State Policy Sought for Police-INS Cooperation

Four state legislators asked the state attorney general Friday to consider guidelines for local police departments to use when turning suspects over to U.S. immigration authorities.

A letter signed by Assemblyman Herb Wesson (D-Culver City) and three other Democratic lawmakers, including state Sen. Joe Dunn (D-Santa Ana), asked Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer to study the issue and recommend whether “legislation is necessary to develop a uniform state policy.”

During an interview, Wesson expressed concern that the civil rights of Latinos are being violated when they are stopped by police and taken to the Border Patrol for deportation.

Wesson said he was acting in response to a report by The Times about various Orange County police departments that detain Latinos suspected of minor crimes and turn them over to the U.S. Border Patrol instead of filing local charges.

Wesson said he is troubled that immigrants are not being accorded “an opportunity for judicial due process.”

“This justifies the need for guidelines. I’m asking the attorney general to find out what’s happening and what the laws are. I want to make sure everyone’s rights are protected,” he said.

Many of the estimated 4,000 people turned over to the Border Patrol by local police departments in the last two years were accused of such violations as selling flowers without a license, soliciting work in public or driving an unregistered vehicle. Some cases involved people suspected of prostitution and minor drug crimes.

Law enforcement officials defend the practice, saying the stops are for suspected criminal violations, not the result of racial profiling, as critics have charged. Some suspects do not have identification and do not speak English, police said, making it necessary to either summon Border Patrol agents or drive them to the immigration checkpoint near San Clemente.

Police cooperation with the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service has become a hotly debated issue in recent weeks.

Earlier this month, Anaheim police stopped Marcella Duque, 18, for a traffic violation. Duque, who supporters said arrived in the United States on a student visa, was taken to the Anaheim City Jail, where she was interviewed by a Border Patrol agent who concluded she was in the country illegally and began deportation proceedings.

The native of Colombia is appealing.

On Tuesday, Hermandad Mexicana Nacional, an immigrants rights group, petitioned the Anaheim City Council to stop police from cooperating with the INS. The council did not respond to the request.

Leaders of the group said they will continue attending council meetings and will engage in civil disobedience until Anaheim police stop working with the Border Patrol.

Lockyer’s spokeswoman was unavailable Friday to comment on Wesson’s letter, which also was signed by Assembly members Marco Firebaugh (D-Los Angeles) and Jackie Goldberg (D-Los Angeles).

Some Orange County police departments said a state directive could be a good thing.

Santa Ana Police Officer Mario Corona said his department “will welcome state guidelines if it simplifies things.

“If this happens, then we can all operate on the same set of standards. But I hope they recognize that every city’s situation is different,” Corona said.

Santa Ana police regularly transfer illegal immigrants to the Border Patrol, but Corona said those cases usually involve people suspected of prostitution or drug offenses.

“They are people that legal and illegal residents of our city don’t want in their neighborhoods,” he said.

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Huntington Beach Police Lt. Chuck Thomas also said “officers want some clear guidance.” Thomas noted that Orange County police agencies have a long history of working with the Border Patrol. In the past, Border Patrol agents used the Huntington Beach Jail to temporarily house illegal immigrants, he said.

“I realize it’s become an issue, and we’ll do whatever they want us to do. But we don’t arrest flower vendors or day laborers and deport them. Our detentions originate from crimes, like being drunk in public and fighting,” Thomas said.

The level of police cooperation with the INS varies widely throughout Southern California. San Diego and Los Angeles police are prohibited from turning over suspects in minor crimes to the INS.

Even the Santa Ana Police Department’s policy is somewhat contradictory. Officers are not allowed to assist Border Patrol agents in making immigration arrests, Corona said, but they are allowed to detain undocumented immigrants involved in minor crimes and turn them over to Border Patrol agents.