City wants to alter jail-screening deal with ICE -

By SUSAN CARROLL Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
Aug. 5, 2009, 9:34PM

The city of Houston is trying to persuade federal immigration officials to change a proposed jail screening agreement in order to allow jailers to target only suspected illegal immigrants with serious criminal records for deportation, the city attorney said.

Arturo Michel, the city attorney, said the city and Houston police are lobbying Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to modify the national template for the federal government's controversial 287(g) program, which trains local law enforcement to identify suspected illegal immigrants.

City and police officials have been negotiating changes to the program since last month, when ICE approved Houston's request to train its jailers through 287(g).

The city wants to write in specific instructions for HPD jailers to turn over to ICE only suspected illegal immigrants with “serious” records, such as state jail felonies or certain federal convictions.

Harris County Sheriff's jailers, who were trained through 287(g) last summer, refer to ICE all suspected illegal immigrants regardless of criminal history. All suspects booked into the county jail are fingerprinted and run through a massive Department of Homeland Security immigration database to see if they have an immigration record.

Police union critical
Michel said that because of “resource issues” and concerns about jailers without ICE training having access to the DHS database, the city wants to run fingerprint-based immigration checks only for certain suspects.

He said HPD jailers with 287(g) training would question only suspects with serious criminal records about their immigration status before deciding whether to check them through the DHS database.

City officials estimate the program will require training for 22 police officers and two supervisors in Houston's jails, and cost an estimated $1.5 million to $2 million a year to operate.

The proposed changes to the program have met with criticism from the Houston Police Union and immigrant advocates, who said they would weaken 287(g). Immigration advocates said they are concerned that the decision to question suspects before checking their immigration history will lead to racial profiling.

Mayor Bill White denied that the city would create a weaker version of the program implemented nationally. White said Wednesday that the city would target “noncitizens who have committed violent crimes, serious property crimes and serious narcotics crimes” to ensure they are deported after coming into the jails.

“That's pretty strong,” White added.

Louise Whiteford, president of the Houston-based Texans for Immigration Reform, disagreed.

“I think it'll weaken it,” Whiteford said. “I don't see why we can't be doing it the way they've done it in other states. It's been very successful.”

Gary Blankinship, president of the Houston Police Officers' Union and a supporter of 287(g), said he was concerned but not surprised by the city's proposed changes to the program.

Gary Blankinship, president of the Houston Police Officers' Union and a supporter of 287(g), said he was concerned but not surprised by the city's proposed changes to the program.

“It just appears the city has done everything it possibly can to avoid entering into this deal,” Blankinship said.

Homeland Security spokes­man Matt Chandler said he could not discuss the Houston negotiations, but added that, in general, “ICE will work with 287(g) partners in order to ensure both parties are happy with the agreement. However, ICE's priority is focusing 287(g) on criminal aliens who pose a public safety threat.”

On July 10, ICE announced 11 new 287(g) partnerships, including one with Houston. That same day, ICE also announced all 66 participants in the program would need to sign new, standardized agreements that include more specific guidelines for enforcement and oversight.

While the program has its share of supporters, it has been criticized by some members of Congress and immigrant advocates as being vulnerable to racial profiling and lacking oversight by ICE.

Cautious optimism
Immigrant advocates said they were cautiously optimistic about the city's proposal to target suspects with more serious criminal histories.

“From the beginning, we have said that we are not advocating keeping violent criminals in the country,” said Cesar Espinosa, an immigrant advocate who has helped organize protests of the city's participation in 287(g). “If people have committed serious crimes, then they should be punished by the law. What we're afraid of is this leading to the detention of people who have committed minor offenses.”

But Espinosa said he was concerned about the proposal to only run certain suspects through the database, saying that “opens the door for a lot of violations,” including racial profiling.

White requested 287(g) training within days of the March 5 shooting of Houston Police officer Rick Salter, who was critically injured by an illegal immigrant with a criminal record. Salter is recovering.

Chronicle reporter Bradley Olson contributed to this story.