Rep. Cox proposes that deputies help enforce immigration laws. The unusual idea sparks opposition but also a pledge of restraint.

By H.G. Reza
Times Staff Writer

Orange County sheriff's deputies would be among the nation's first local law enforcement officers trained to enforce federal immigration laws under a proposal by Rep. Christopher Cox — a plan that's already stirring controversy.

The proposal, under review by sheriff's officials, is at odds with the official policy of most police departments in California, and many police chiefs have traditionally seen immigration law enforcement as a wedge between their officers and the Latino community. The thought is that immigrants would be less likely to report crimes if they believe officers will inquire about their legal status.

In Santa Ana, for example, officers are not even allowed to assist U.S. Border Patrol or immigration agents when they conduct sweeps in the heavily Latino city. Exceptions are made when federal authorities need assistance in criminal investigations.

Sheriff's officials say enforcing immigration law is a tool needed to fight terrorism.

A small group of deputies would go through a five-week training program to make them familiar with the federal laws.

Orange County Assistant Sheriff George Jaramillo said he is aware of the concern among some Latinos but insisted that deputies intend to use their federal authority as a tool to fight terrorism and, more specifically, track down criminals. Jaramillo is heading a Sheriff's Department study of the training plan and said a decision will be made before Dec. 31.

"We're not interested in doing immigration raids or tracking down good people who are undocumented," Jaramillo said. "We're going after people who are identified in criminal and terrorist activity."

Cox, a Newport Beach Republican and chairman of the House Select Committee on Homeland Security, said the plan could be a model for law enforcement in the United States.

But some say it could put the Sheriff's Department on a slippery slope.

Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove) is among those warning that empowering deputies to enforce immigration law will strain relations in immigrant communities, especially in San Juan Capistrano, where Latinos say they have been harassed and mistreated by deputies and Border Patrol agents.

Deputies raided the homes of six Latino families in July, looking for the men who beat up and stabbed four Marines in a highly publicized brawl in San Juan Capistrano's historic downtown. The aggressive manhunt in the town's immigrant community left some residents feeling angered or fearful.

Earlier in the year, hundreds of Latinos in the city protested a series of arrests by Border Patrol agents. Although a number of illegal immigrants were arrested, agents also picked up at least one woman who had been waiting seven years for her permanent residency application to be processed. She was locked up for six days and said agents tried to pressure her to sign documents for voluntary deportation.

"How many terrorists, or for that matter, how many Latino terrorists are living among us in south Orange County?" said Patricia Mariscal, a San Juan Capistrano activist. "Why do deputies need to be trained in immigration law to arrest criminals?"

County Supervisor Bill Campbell, who favors the proposal, said Cox approached him and Sheriff Michael S. Carona with the idea in March. He said he has met with Cox at least three times to discuss the issue, most recently in Washington last Monday.

Orange County deputies would join 21 Alabama state troopers and 35 Florida police officers as the only local law enforcement officers in the nation trained to enforce the nation's complicated immigration laws, according to federal authorities. The training is authorized by a little-used statute sponsored by Cox for the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act signed by President Clinton in 1996.

The statute, which allows law enforcement officers to be trained in immigration law at a local agency's expense, opened an area that was largely uncharted until last year, when Cox and Department of Homeland Security officials began pushing it as an anti-terrorism tool.

"The law has been underutilized," Cox said. "If we were to develop a plan in Orange County to meet homeland security needs and the Hispanic community's needs, it could be a model for the country."

If the proposal is approved by the county, Cox said, he would try to arrange for a federal grant to pay for training and other costs related to the program.

Sanchez, also a member of the Homeland Security committee, opposes the idea.

"Cops have told us over and over that they don't want to do the work of [immigration agents]. They don't have enough resources to do their jobs as it is, and they don't need the extra duty of being an immigration enforcer," Sanchez said.

"Once word gets out in the immigrant community that the sheriff is enforcing immigration law, people are going to stop giving them information," she said.

Jaramillo said the plan will be implemented only if it is supported by county supervisors and the cities and communities served by the department.

It is unclear how many people would be trained, but Campbell said likely candidates are deputies assigned to local terrorist and drug task forces and those working in the county jail's intake section. "I think the proposal makes sense," he said. "Since 9/11, we have to use everything in the tool kit to protect ourselves from terrorists. If you catch a terrorist but can't prove he's a terrorist, you can at least deport him for being illegal."

But some opponents say the proposal is merely an effort to target illegal immigrants in the name of homeland security.

"The threat of terrorism is being used to garner popular support for this flawed plan," said Linton Joaquin, legal director of the National Immigration Law Center in Los Angeles. "It's not the undocumented people who are the terrorists," said San Diego Assistant Police Chief Bill Maheu. "The 9/11 hijackers were in the U.S. legally."

Maheu said local officials should be apprehensive about getting involved in immigration. "If we arrest someone who is undocumented and he doesn't go to trial, we turn him over to immigration authorities," he said. "Otherwise, we don't ask people about their status."

Jaramillo, however, sees immigration and terrorism as intertwined.

"It's a very logical approach to look at immigration as an issue when we're fighting terrorism," he said.

Mike Gilhooly, a spokesman for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Washington, said the agency is working to enter the names of all "absconders" — those who ignore deportation orders — into a national database.

Gilhooly said there are about 400,000 absconders in the U.S and that a new federal database will allow police officers trained in immigration law to identity and detain absconders.

"They're not expected to do operations like work site inspections or stop people only to ask about their immigration status," he said.

Jaramillo said Orange County deputies would be selective, targeting "people who are here committing crimes."