Police halt immigrant scrutiny

 

Two Massachusetts law enforcement agencies have halted a controversial program that authorized them to enforce federal immigration laws, thrilling advocates for immigrants but drawing criticism from those seeking tougher restrictions. The Framingham Police Department pulled out recently because the federal government had urged the force to detain and deport immigrants more aggressively, and the chief feared that would erode trust in the community. The Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office said federal officials suspended their involvement a few months ago, leaving the state’s Department of Correction as the only participating unit in Massachusetts.

The program, known formally as 287(g), grants state and local law enforcement agencies the power to enforce federal immigration laws after they sign an agreement with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and undergo training. The program underwent a sweeping nationwide overhaul in July following criticism that it led to racial pro filing, intimidation, and the deportation of immigrants for such minor crimes as speeding. The Government Accountability Office had criticized the program, which is supposed to focus on hardcore crimes such as murder and drug smuggling.

Massachusetts did not report abuses connected to the program, and Framingham and Barnstable rarely used their federal authority. But its existence was a powerful symbol, especially in Framingham, where more than 1 in 4 residents is foreign-born.

Framingham’s chief, Steven Carl said he signed up two years ago for the sole purpose of accessing federal computer databases to aid in criminal investigations. He assigned two officers to the program, and said the databases helped, but only two or three people were arrested as a result. He said he decided to withdraw over the summer after federal officials asked him to expand the officers’ duties to detaining immigrants for deportation, transporting detainees, and having police testify in immigration cases. He sent a letter Wednesday to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement formally withdrawing. Carl said he would still work with federal immigration officials on criminal investigations, as many police departments continue to do statewide regardless of the program.

In Barnstable County, Sheriff James M. Cummings said federal officials suspended their involvement in the program a few months ago, before it ever got started.

The state Department of Correction has no plans to withdraw from the program, said Diane Wiffin, spokeswoman. Governor Deval Patrick enrolled the department in 2007, after overturning a decision by his predecessor, Mitt Romney, to authorize State Police to join.

Immigrant advocates hailed the news that the federal program would be less of a presence in the state. Eva Millona, executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, yesterday called the end of the programs “a great victory’’ and praised Framingham in particular. Immigrants who fear deportation are less likely to report crimes, she said, forcing victims of domestic violence and others to suffer in silence.

Others criticized the decision, saying it would encourage more illegal immigrants to come to Massachusetts. “They should be putting more of an effort to go after them,’’ said Jim Rizoli, spokesman for a Framingham group called Concerned Citizens and Friends of Illegal Immigration Law Enforcement. “They could be pulling them in every minute of the day.’’

-From: “Agencies halt their immigrant scrutiny; Barnstable sheriff, Framingham police say no”, By Maria Sacchetti, The Boston Globe, October 2, 2009 , http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/10/02/agencies_halt_their_immigrant_scrutiny/ retrieved 10/5/09.

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