Yesterday, Maegan told us about a controversial government policy that would check the immigration status of every person currently being held in U.S. jails. While that in itself is already ruffling a lot of feathers, a similar program, 287(g), is being instated throughout the country, this one more worrisome due to the the other dimension it appears to be taking: local enforcement of immigration laws by police. The Police Chief of one of the cities participating in 287(g), my hometown of Houston, says while his force is signed up for the jail revision part, he is “worried” about the element of local law enforcement checking out the immigration status of everyone it comes in contact with:

Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt was in Washington on Wednesday, supporting a study criticizing the controversial immigration program known as 287(g), in which his department is planning to participate.

Hurtt said the department has applied for 287(g) training for Houston police to use federal immigration databases but only to check on those booked into the city’s two jails.

He said he favors that portion of the program but is opposed to the street-level phase of the federal immigration law, allowing local and state police to make immigration arrests and process offenders for deportation.

The yearlong study of 287(g) by the nonpartisan Police Foundation was critical of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement program, concluding it erodes law enforcement’s public safety mission, diverts scarce resources, increases exposure to liability to charges of racial profiling, and heightens fear in communities.
“Immigration enforcement by local police is counterproductive to community policing efforts. It undermines the trust and cooperation of immigrant communities, could lead to charges of racial profiling, and increases our response time to urgent calls for service,” Hurtt said during a Capitol Hill press event in Washington.

Yes, folks, the police chief of a city with millions of immigrants doesn’t even feel right about this. What does that tell us?

Hurtt says that Houston’s signing up with the jail revision element of 287(g) wasn’t his idea either, but rather Houston Mayor Bill White, who adopted the action after a police officer was shot by an undocumented immigrant.

Hurtt is apparently quite disturbed by the turn this is taking for Houston, and the Houston Chronicle reports he is considering job offers from other cities, including San Francisco.

Via / Chron.com