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The nation’s immigration system is broken and taking a toll on police and sheriff’s departments trying to build trust between law enforcement and immigrant communities, some police leaders said Thursday.
"We don’t stop people based on their race or ethnicity or what we suspect their country of origin to be," said Kim Lemaux, deputy chief with the Arlington Police Department.Police officials in California and Iowa echoed that message. Lemaux and others took part Thursday in a discussion moderated by the Law Enforcement Engagement Initiative, a movement based in California and headed by Arturo Venegas, a retired police chief from Sacramento.Police leaders said fear of police among immigrants makes it difficult to protect communities. They want Congress to listen to their concerns as immigration reform heads back to the front burner. Some leaders want a pathway to legalization for undocumented people to be part of efforts to secure borders. Arlington police said they participated so lawmakers can hear a local law enforcement perspective.Police said immigrants fear deportation, while American-born Hispanics worry about racial profiling.Immigrants tend to avoid police because they believe they will be asked to prove whether they have permission to work and live in this country. Sometimes immigrant witnesses or victims choose to walk away from a situation (car accidents or scenes of crimes) rather than face police, said Rick Braziel, Sacramento police chief.Those worries are fueled by the different ways in which immigrant rules are enforced on the ground, police leaders said. Immigrants get mixed messages — San Francisco is considered a sanctuary area while cities such as Farmers Branch have stepped up local immigration enforcement. Of particular concern are partnerships between local police and the federal government that allow officers in certain departments to enforce immigration rules."It creates confusion for the people out there," Venegas said.Arlington is not partnering with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement through a 287(g) program, the agreement that allows the federal government to train local police. Arlington has a large Hispanic community and tries to recruit Spanish-speaking officers, who are eligible for a monthly language stipend. Not all North Texas police departments have the same philosophy. Carrollton and Farmers Branch police departments have 287(g) agreements. Federal officials tout the 287(g) alliances as an essential tool. From January through Oct. 16, local officers trained through the program were credited with removing about 24,000 undocumented people nationwide. There have been 1,075 local officers trained through the program nationwide, according to ICE.DIANE SMITH, 817-390-7675
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