Posted on 12/18/2006 5:08:35 PM PST by SandRat
PHOENIX - The new top immigration enforcement official in Arizona promised Monday to do more to cut down on the number of people working illegally in this country.
Alonzo Peña said he plans to start bringing criminal charges against firms that provide false papers to undocumented workers. Peña said it is not enough simply to seek civil sanctions.
But Peña, who took over about two months ago as the special agent in charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said he also wants to work cooperatively with employers who are trying to comply with the law.
Peña's comments came after a half-hour closed-door meeting Monday with Gov. Janet Napolitano and Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
Napolitano, who had not previously met Peña, said the trio discussed ways they can work together legally. And Arpaio is involved because his deputies already have been detaining illegal immigrants.
But the sheriff also is pushing to have his officers certified to enforce federal immigration law, something he acknowledged would permit them to go beyond simply questioning and detaining those they stop. And that agreement, he said, might give deputies the authority to actually seek out undocumented workers -- even at worksites.
"I would presume the agreement is very nebulous and is not air tight," he said. "I want a little flexibility." The moves are part of what Peña said will be an enhanced effort to deal with immigration beyond the immediate border.
"It's a layered approach," he said, beyond stopping people from entering the country illegally in the first place. He said that means identifying the places far from the border where undocumented workers are employed, as well as the "stash homes'' where border crossers are housed before being shipped out somewhere else.
And Peña said there also will be a third layer in Northern Arizona.
Napolitano agreed, saying that people who have managed to get past the border make their way to Interstate 40. "They're getting up there not to stay primarily but to go to other states in the country," she said.
Peña said he and Napolitano specifically talked about dealing with companies that hire people who are not here legally.
He said criminal charges -- and not simply civil fines -- are appropriate where individuals knowingly facilitate the ability of undocumented workers to get jobs in this country. Peña said that includes providing them false documents they can present to employers.
But Peña indicated he believes that some companies that employ undocumented workers are themselves victims. He said his agency has "an outreach program" for businesses so they can prevent themselves from being exploited by either subcontractors or other individuals that may want to bring illegal workers to the worksite."
Napolitano said Peña's strategy of paying more attention to what happens beyond the border makes sense. She noted that Congress has approved more Border Patrol officers. And several states have assigned their own National Guard units to work along the border, with anywhere from 1,800 to 2,000 soldiers there on any given day.
"This permits ICE, I think, really to focus on the more interior strategy," Napolitano said.
Peña said one focus will be on helping local law enforcement agencies when, as part of their own criminal investigation, they encounter people they suspect are illegal immigrants.
"We will bring our immigration authorities to bear on those individuals," Peña said.
That addresses complaints both Napolitano and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio had about Roberto Medina, who was Peña's predecessor. Both elected officials complained to Washington that Medina was openly hostile toward local law enforcement, refusing to pick up undocumented individuals.
They also said Medina was not always cooperative about participating in joint operations to combat smuggling; Peña said he wants to work with local police.
Border and Illegal Aliens.
This could become the national policy if we let the majority party see our petitions and emails on the issue.
With the exception of Arpaio, do any other local head LEO's do anything to pursue illegals in AZ or do they spout the typical union line that "we don't have the time or money"
or that "it would prevent immigrants from tipping us off about crimes" ?
Cochise's Sheriff Deaver is waking up but the rest, -pish -pish.
The illegals are arrested and detained but will they be deported?
They might also want to cut down on the number of illegal aliens using the stolen identities of American citizens. Big problem. Big, big problem.
Who knows???
I thought illegal immigration was a dead issue.
There are municipality police departments quitely turning any illegals they come across over to BP, but they are not going out looking for illegals.
Maybe, maybe not. But I'm pretty impressed with two out of three.
bookmark
Phoenix is a sancutary city, there could be 150 people living in a house and the Phoenix City Police will look the other way. Not because they want to, but because their boss thinks illegals are just fine and refuses to cooperate with anyone.
ping
So, what has this guy been doing the rest of the time he's been accepting a paycheck from the taxpayers in this country?
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