By Ryan Hagen Staff writer
Redlands Daily Facts
09/02/2010
More than four out of every 10 illegal immigrants deported from San Bernardino County under the federal government's new Secure Communities program did not commit additional crimes before being kicked out, according to figures released by immigration officials.
That's well above the state average of 25 percent and the 21 percent rate in Los Angeles County.
Most of the illegal immigrants deported under the program committed criminal offenses beyond being in the country illegally and federal officials said they did not know why the deportations of non-criminals were higher in San Bernardino County.
Emilio Amaya, director of the San Bernardino Community Service Center, which provides legal and other assistance to immigrants, said the numbers were disappointing but not surprising.
"Our conviction has been that most people (removed through) Secure Communities are not the hard-core criminals it is intended to get," Amaya said. "Our argument from the beginning was that this makes police de facto immigration departments."
Since the Secure Communities program began here in April, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has automatically checked criminal and immigration records of anyone booked into custody in San Bernardino County.
Although such records were intermittently checked before then under the county jail's 287(g) program, the Secure Communities program makes the process quicker and more comprehensive.
Communities began in 2008, and so far 547 U.S. jurisdictions participate. Statewide, 28 counties have signed onto the program, described on its website as "identifying and removing criminal aliens to keep our communities safe."
Of 369 illegal immigrants repatriated to their home countries from San Bernardino County between April and July 31, when the latest data is available, 164 had not been taken into custody for a non-immigration offense.
ICE statistics identify those people as "non-criminal."
The decisions about whether or not to deport are made by immigration judges.
"...Looks at the totality of the person's history" when deciding whether to repatriate them, said Virginia Kice, communications director for ICE's western region. "We take them into custody because we think they could be deported, but ICE does not make final determinations about deportability."
Amaya argues the program wastes police resources and discourages otherwise-law-abiding illegal immigrants from cooperating with police, undermining trust and increasing total crime.
Others say immigration laws need to be enforced, whatever the method.
"The goal of the Secure Communities is to end the death of the American people at the hands of illegal immigrants," said Raymond Herrera, founder and president of Claremont-based We The People, California's Crusader. "There are some that committed a crime by crossing illegally. There are some that are out creating murder and mayhem. We need to round up them all."
Immigration officials also defended both Secure Communities and 287(g).
"These are both tools that have helped the number of removals and returns have gone steadily up," Kice said. "We and most law enforcement think it's a wonderful thing. The great thing is that it's essentially blind: Everyone goes through the system."
ryan.hagen@inlandnewspapers.com, 909-386-3916
