Is it a police tool to halt criminal activity or an endorsement of racism targeting Hispanics?
A proposed agreement between Salt Lake police and the federal Immigration and Naturalization Service is alternately drawing criticism and attracting supporters.Under a concept Police Chief Ruben Ortega says was pushed by U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno during the 1997 crime summit in Salt Lake City, 20 of Ortega's officers would be "cross-deputized" to perform certain INS functions.
Tuesday, the Salt Lake City Council will hold a 6 p.m. public hearing on the controversial, first-of-its-kind proposal in the country. It has Ortega being accused of being racist against those who share his ethnic ancestry.
Ortega says the most critical function his officers would inherit is the ability to legally classify people after arrest as undocumented and thus illegal immigrants.
Now, the power to identify illegals rests solely with INS agents who must go to the jails and fill out the proper paperwork.
Ortega is circumspect.
"This is just one more tool, it
is certainly not the answer. It's not the panacea. It's just one more thing that can help us with this problem. . . . If it doesn't pass, it is not going to be the end of the world."
The problem is what law enforcement contends is a percentage of the illegal alien population, mostly from Mexico, committing crimes such as drug dealing and violent acts along the Wasatch Front.
Ortega contends the INS, despite an increase this year in the number of agents working in the Salt Lake Valley, can't always make it to the jails.
"INS will never have the resources delegated to this area. Most of those resources are going to the border states where the problem is larger. But the problem here is significant because it is contributing to our crime problem."
People known by officers to be illegal are booked on a criminal charge and then freed because INS doesn't show up to request a "hold" on the them, Ortega said. Police see the accused out on the streets the next week and go through the same frustrating cycle, he said.
"That is the revolving door we are trying to close,' Ortega said.
But Ortega's efforts, which he insists are benign and not racially motivated, have met with criticism from the proposal's opponents who claim cross-deputization would give Salt Lake police carte blanche authority to be discriminatory.
The controversy caused the Salt Lake City Council earlier this month to postpone a decision until a public hearing is held.
State Sen. Pete Suazo, D-Salt Lake, lodged a formal protest against cross-deputization with the council, saying the proposal tacitly endorses harassment of Hispanics by police on the pretense of checking to see if they are illegal.
"This is creating an atmosphere of fear," he said.
Ortega rejects that contention, saying officers don't need the proposal to be racist.
"That's not a legitimate concern," Ortega said. "If someone is going to hassle citizens because of the color of their skin, that can already happen. It's discouraging because there are people out there who ignore reality and put a higher concern on what might happen versus the reality of what is happening" with crime in Salt Lake City, he said.
Suazo said the proposal for cross-deputization is an overreaction to a problem that has abated since INS increased its staff this year from three agents to 21.
"Crime overall has been coming down. There are fewer drive-bys, fewer deaths, to the credit of the Salt Lake Police Department. I think we are getting a handle on this."
Suazo said he didn't believe suspected illegal immigrants were being released from jail because INS couldn't get there in time. Rather, he said, if any premature releases are happening, it's due to the overcrowding.
"I would doubt that the INS is not being responsive. The problem is lack of space."
Salt Lake County Sheriff Aaron Kennard said, he, like Ortega, is frustrated at the backlash generated by the proposed agreement.
"If they are going to hide under the color of the (agreement) to do illegal activities as law enforcement, Chief Ortega, I, or any other executive in law enforcement will not tolerate that for a second. There are very strict procedures and policies in place dealing with people violating people's rights."
For more than a year, Kennard worked on an agreement with INS to handle the transport of documented illegal immigrants to other Western states to begin the deportation process.
Kennard said he backed out because of INS requirements that his transportation officers receive six months of training before they could transport any undocumented immigrants.
"This made no sense."
The idea of helping INS transport illegals was propelled by the need to free up bed space, not out of any desire to vest his deputies with more power, Kennard said.
"I've dropped this completely. We have no intentions of doing the INS' job. We volunteered to assist them."
Suazo also objects to the cross-deputization proposal because he says it commits city resources to do a federal job.
Ortega, however, doesn't see it that way because his officers are already spending the time to arrest suspected illegal immigrants and have to endure the frustration of seeing them out on the streets a few days later.
Suazo said his biggest fear is the agreement will perpetuate rampant discrimination on the part of officers.
Ortega responds by saying officers will receive special training on cultural diversity and race relations to ensure everyone is treated in a fair manner.
The chief also says opponents such as Suazo ought to direct their concern on the impact the illegal immigrants have on the community.
"They're selling a lot of the drugs to our own people, the legitimate Hispanic community."
Sauzo, on the other hand, contends the bulk of the customers are white.