Posted on 04/09/2007 8:06:14 PM PDT by Dacb
Amid a national debate over whether local police should help enforce immigration rules, a lawsuit is charging San Jose and Police Chief Rob Davis with failing to report suspected illegal immigrants to federal authorities -- a practice that the suit alleges is itself against the law.
The suit, filed by an Orange County attorney and activist, challenges a practice that San Jose and many other police departments openly acknowledge.
If police were to pursue the immigration status of suspects, victims and witnesses, Davis has said, they would violate the trust of immigrant communities that they need to do their jobs.
But attorney David Klehm echoes the argument of federal officials who have asked police departments around the country to take a more active stance: Illegal immigrants who are arrested ought to be deported, rather than being "recycled" through the U.S. criminal justice system.
Klehm's suit, filed on behalf of Roberta Allen and Carol Joyal of San Jose, comes at a critical time.
At least five Bay Area cities -- San Jose, East Palo Alto, San Francisco, Richmond and San Rafael -- have passed city resolutions in recent months denouncing federal sweeps to round up illegal immigrants in Northern California.
In those raids, agents are targeting immigrants who have separate criminal convictions in order to deport them, but undocumented immigrants without criminal records have also been caught in the effort.
A chorus of government officials, police chiefs and religious leaders have condemned the sweeps and restated that they will refuse to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the federal agency that has conducted the sweeps.
But other officials have offered at least some level of assistance, helping to screen immigrants with criminal convictions.
"Our department remains committed to our longstanding policy that we do not arrest people based solely upon their immigration status," Davis said in February, when the San Jose City Council was considering a resolution on the ICE raids. "We need to maintain the cooperation and communication we have with San Jose's many immigrant communities in order to do our jobs effectively."
But Klehm and plaintiff Allen said police are compromising public safety by ignoring the issue.
"I'm a law-abiding, tax-paying citizen concerned about multiple arrests of illegal aliens for drug offenses," said Allen, a San Jose small-business owner who has been active in organizing local protests against amnesty for illegal immigrants.
"The police officers need to have their hands untied so they can do their jobs," he said.
Klehm said he plans to file similar lawsuits against other police departments in California.
A spokesman for Davis and San Jose police referred calls to City Attorney Rick Doyle, who did not return telephone messages seeking comment.
Councilman Sam Liccardo, who co-sponsored the ICE resolution approved by the council last month, said the larger issue is priority.
"We have less than 1,400 police officers and thousands of code violations," Liccardo said. "We can't possibly enforce them all.
"This department has placed violent crimes, sexual assaults and other crime of predatory nature at the top of its list. I support that set of priorities."
Klehm first drew public notice on the immigration issue last year after he filed suit in Kern County on behalf of a business owner accusing a competitor of unfair business practice by allegedly hiring illegal immigrants. That lawsuit is pending.
In the wake of that suit, Klehm said, police officers called his attention to a state law that requires police who are making arrests for certain drug-related offenses to report any suspicion about citizenship status to federal authorities.
But too often, the officers complained, they are blocked from filing such reports.
In a telephone interview arranged by Klehm, one unidentified San Jose police officer said "the reality is we're not allowed to call immigration."
"It's extremely discouraging when you're there in the streets trying to make a difference," the officer said.
The standard for deciding whether someone arrested on a drug offense "may not be a citizen" and therefore deportable is a very low legal standard, Klehm argued.
But civil rights groups and immigrant advocates say it is a potentially dangerous standard.
"The last thing you want to do is tell your community that calling 911 will get you deported," said Philip Hwang, an attorney with Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights in San Francisco.
Klehm said he notified Doyle last year that San Jose police were systematically ignoring the law.
He also asked for police records and said he did not receive a response.
For its part, ICE has taken a hands-off approach to the debate while forging partnerships with local law enforcement in California, Alabama, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina and Tennessee.
In those partnerships, local police help screen and identify immigrants with serious criminal convictions and turn them over to federal immigration authorities for deportation.
"ICE's job is to enforce federal law," said Virginia Kice, spokeswoman for the agency. "We aren't going to prescribe to local law enforcement how to conduct its mission. We understand local law enforcement agencies have a different mission, but we have a shared goal of doing what we can to promote public safety."
MediaNews staff writer Sean Webby contributed to this report. Reach Jessie Mangaliman of the San Jose Mercury News at jmangaliman@mercurynews.com or 408-920-5794.
A conundrum of their own making with a simple solution except for the billions made off the backs of the illegals.
Good, I have always wonder why rudy and other mayors could attempt to sue gun manufactures, but people couldn't sue mayors and the police for not enforcing the law. Of course it has already been decided that police cannot be sue for failure to protect people.
Then maybe you have too many "code violations" on the books.
BUT by ignoring the "immigration status" of the wetbacks they arrest, the cops are violating the trust of the PEOPLE WHO PAY THEIR SALARIES!
Well - the illegal immigrants have the option of returning to the country where they can trust the Police....< /sarcasm>
Where the hell do WE go to get the laws enforced by Police WE PAY to do so?
The Civil Service a$$holes have it upside down -- they have no clue how much they have contributed to the decline of society by their worship of the "undocumented worker"....
Perhaps if the illegals learn that the laws WILL be enforced -- ALL THE LAWS -- perhaps they'll stay home.
Semper Fi
“...they would violate the trust of immigrant communities that they need to do their jobs.”
Once again it appears that it is critical, and supreme, that LEOs have the trust of law breaking border jumpers.
Why do you need the trust of the illegal alien community when they are going to be deported anyway for being here illegally? WTF?
If police were to pursue the immigration status of suspects, victims and witnesses, Davis has said, they would violate the mandate of liberal activist groups and I would lose my job.
There fixed it
I wondered when this was going to start.Its about time!
Jose’s car is found across town. A “Miguel Hermano” is behind the wheel with only a Matricula consular card as ID. Miguel should be having an interview with ICE.
The problem with the policy as stated is that is seems they are not asking convicted felons much less suspects about their immigration status.
That's it in a nutshell.
Jose reports his car stolen - don't ask awkward questions about his immigration status.
Jose's car is found across town. A "Miguel Hermano" is behind the wheel with only a Matricula consular card as ID. Miguel should be having an interview with ICE.
The other problem is that the Jose's out there want the law enforced when their ox is gored, but they don't want laws enforced when they're the ones doing the "goring."
You need to be more cynical.
[The Civil Service a$$holes have it upside down — they have no clue how much they have contributed to the decline of society by their worship of the “undocumented worker”....]
The more crime there is, the more job security these people have. The more violent crime on the streets, the more their unions can squeeze out of the public purse for wages and pensions. It is as simple as that. Cops creating and maintaining a ‘problem’ so they can continue to feed at the public trough.
Imagine if all illegals were deported and all incentives removed via harsh punishment of repeat offenders and employers. Crime would fall off, prison populations would decline. Not good business if you’re a cop.
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