Local immigration raids show little effect
Few face ouster, but DA defends his enforcement effort
By Riley Yates
Of The Morning Call
January 25, 2009
For years, Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli has pursued illegal immigrants in efforts that have given him national status as a crusader on a hot-button political issue.
In interviews with Fox News' Bill O'Reilly and on CNN's ''Lou Dobbs Tonight,''Morganelli has defended local raids against businesses hiring illegal immigrants as necessary, given a lack of action at the federal level.
But despite the high visibility, Morganelli has had little success, court records show.
At the federal level, deportations of illegal immigrants Morganelli arrested for false identification or fake Social Security cards were not the rule, a review of 94 cases from 2004 to 2007 by The Morning Call showed. At the local level, slim prison sentences -- if there was prison time at all -- were the norm.
The results demonstrate what Morganelli and other critics of federal immigration enforcement have long contended: that deportations, even for those arrested for crimes, are not guaranteed. They also raise doubts about how successful local authorities are in battling a traditionally federal problem.
''What you have is an unnecessary use of resources which could have been better used fighting real crime -- violent crime and other crime that affects society,'' said David Vaida, an Allentown attorney who has long been critical of Morganelli's policy.
Of the 94 cases reviewed, just one person was actually deported. According to Northampton County and federal court records, seventeen individuals left the country voluntarily, one case is on appeal and one person did not show up for federal court proceedings. No recorded immigration action was taken against the other 74.
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-3immigration.6700754jan25,0,2581285.story
