By Bill Zeeble, KERA reporter
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-638200.mp3
Irving, Tx – Bill Zeeble, KERA reporter:
Accusations of bigotry and racial profiling are fueling fears among Irving's immigrant population. Hispanic activist Carlos Quintanilla initially liked the city's Criminal Alien Program, figuring it would deport dangerous, hardened criminals. With numbers showing most of those jailed were arrested for misdemeanors before they were deported as illegal immigrants, Quintanilla has changed his mind, and plans a protest in Irving this weekend.
Carlos Quintanilla, Hispanic activist: What was intended to be a good program has failed miserably. Because there's no distinction of what is a criminal alien and whether traffic citations constitute devious criminal behavior.
Zeeble: The city's Mayor, Herbert Gears, says his town's policies are not racist, and they don't target immigrants. In fact, he praises Irving's diversity, with more foreign residents per capita than any big city between the U.S. coasts. He also insists people NOT mix Irving up with Farmers Branch, where a federal judge has declared an ordinance targeting illegal immigrants is unconstitutional.
Herbert Gears, Irving Mayor: We're in no way like Farmers Branch. We have more Asians in Irving than Farmers Branch has people.
What's different about what we're doing is we're not politically grandstanding on the issue, or making derogatory remarks about people . I don't refer to people as illegals. Might as well call them wetbacks. Why don't we do that? Because those words are no longer acceptable. One day in the future we'll look back and see the word illegal in the same way.
Zeeble: What Irving does under its Criminal Alien Program is screen every jailed inmate, then sends information about possibly illegal immigrants to federal officials with Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE. If federal authorities find inmates are illegal, ICE deports them, not Irving police, says Police Chief Larry Boyd.
Larry Boyd, Irving Police Chief: Irving and my officers make no decisions on deporting anyone. Because they can't deport anyone. It's not a decision they make or could make.
Zeeble: Federal officials have deported more than 16-hundred of Irving's inmates in the year since the program wast implemented. That's more than from any other city in the country. It prompted Dallas' Mexican Consul General to warn his native countrymen to stay out of Irving. Mayor Gears says the Consul General passed along the wrong message.
Gears: I would have suggested a better warning. If you're going to commit a crime you'll end up in the Irving jail. And if you're not here legally you're going to encounter an ICE officer in our jail.
Zeeble: Gears likes the program he heard was used in Arizona. He added the program helps Immigration officials, and expects they those officials in turn, would help Irving. But concerns have spread to Irving's Mexican American parents, and their children in public schools. The other day, Mayor Gears told members of the Nimitz high school Latin club about the policy, where he said NO students would ever be deported, despite parents' fears. High school senior, Francisco Arce (are-see) didn't like the policy. Crimes like minor traffic violations -which could warrant a warning or citation for a U.S. citizen, would prompt deportation for illegal immigrants. Arce said that's not fair.
Francisco Arce, Nimitz High School Senior: They should be treated as others. Equally. With Americans. With Mexican, equally.
Zeeble: SMU law professor George Martinez says it's time federal authorities do something to quell fears that have now filtered down to municipal governments. So far, Congress has failed to address immigration reform.
SMU Law Professor George Martinez: We need to have some uniform federal position on what these local entities can do. We need an answer from the Supreme Court. These issues are percolating in the local courts. So different communities are doing different things. The issue of whether these local ordinances are constitutional is something the Supreme Court would have to decide.
Zeeble:. Hispanic activists marching in Irving this Saturday hope to stop the town's jail screening policy. Deportations for minor violations may be legal, they say, but are unwise and unfair. Bill Zeeble KERA news Bzeeble@Kera.Org