Uncertainty on immigration enforcement looms in Northwest Arkansas

Fernando Garcia (left) and Diana Dominguez speak Feb. 10 to a group at Arkansas United Community Coalition office in Springdale as part of a Know-Your-Rights workshop for immigrants so they aren’t terrified to interact with Northwest Arkansas police. President Donald Trump signed an executive order allowing local law enforcement officials to do the duties of federal immigration officers when it comes to the investigation, apprehension or detention of residents living in the country without valid visas.
Fernando Garcia (left) and Diana Dominguez speak Feb. 10 to a group at Arkansas United Community Coalition office in Springdale as part of a Know-Your-Rights workshop for immigrants so they aren’t terrified to interact with Northwest Arkansas police. President Donald Trump signed an executive order allowing local law enforcement officials to do the duties of federal immigration officers when it comes to the investigation, apprehension or detention of residents living in the country without valid visas.

Mayors, sheriffs and some immigrants in Northwest Arkansas are apprehensive about President Donald Trump's executive order expanding federal duties to local law enforcement.

Trump signed an executive order last month allowing local and state law enforcement officials to perform the duties of federal immigration officers when it comes to the investigation, apprehension or detention of residents living in the country without valid visas.

Snapshot

• Washington County had 14 inmates being held for Immigration and Customs Enforcement out of 648 total at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.

• Benton County had six inmates being held for Immigration and Customs Enforcement out of 545 total at 1:30 p.m. Thursday.

Source: Staff report

Web watch

Read the Jan. 25 executive order:

bit.ly/immigrationorder

Local police agencies would take on those duties through a federal program scaled back under President Barack Obama's administration.

"It's a hot topic for a lot of people," said Benton County Sheriff Shawn Holloway. He echoed his Washington County counterpart by adding he wants more information before deciding whether to have deputies in the field take part in the program.

"I think there can be good in the program, but unless the program's run correctly, there can be a lot of damage done to families," he said.

Trump's order comes amid several moves to enforce or tighten immigration enforcement.

A separate executive order calls for adding to the 650 miles of wall on the 2,000-mile-long border between the United States and Mexico. Another section of the same order calls for the end of the "catch and release" practice of the Border Patrol in which agents routinely allow people caught crossing the border to go free shortly after apprehension.

Trump has ordered eligibility be revoked for federal grants, except as "deemed necessary" for law enforcement purposes, to "sanctuary cities." The term refers to jurisdictions declining to jail people based solely on immigration status, according to the Washington Post.

The New York Times reported more than 600 arrests in at least 11 states over the second week in February. The arrests have sparked fears of more widespread raids, though the U.S. Department of Homeland Security maintained the arrests were in line with previous directives under the Obama administration to prioritize immigrants with violent or otherwise extensive criminal histories.

Hundreds of people, some with no criminal histories other than not having valid visas, have been arrested around the country this month by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to multiple news outlets.

The Associated Press reported Friday the Trump administration has considered a proposal to send as many as 100,000 National Guard troops to round up unauthorized immigrants in several states, including Arkansas.

Tom Byrd, public affairs officer with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in New Orleans, said comments and statistics related to executive orders must come through the Department of Homeland Security.

"Right now, we still haven't gotten the specific guidance as to what we're supposed to do with the executive orders," he said.

About 30,000 people without valid visas called Northwest Arkansas home in 2014, according to estimates from the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan organization that conducts data-driven social science research.

Local enforcement

Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act for two decades has allowed police and sheriff's departments to screen people for immigration violations in the field, at local jails or both, essentially giving local officers federal powers. The field aspect is referred to as the task force option, while screenings only after an arrest at the jail is the detention option.

If someone is flagged by federal databases after encountering police, he can be turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for possible deportation.

The executive order about law enforcement reinstates the Secure Communities program, which Obama replaced in 2014. Under Secure Communities, detention officers submit biometric data, or fingerprints, through the rungs of federal records.

Almost 600 people picked up by agencies in Benton and Washington counties were deported under Secure Communities between 2008 and 2015, according to the Center for Immigration Studies, a national group supporting increased immigration restrictions.

Benton and Washington counties and Springdale and Rogers police participated in the task force option of 287(g) until Obama replaced it in 2013 with the Priority Enforcement Program. That program only sought deportation if the inmate had been convicted of certain offenses, participated in organized criminal gang activity or posed a danger to national security.

The detention aspect of the program includes 38 agencies in 16 states, according to the customs enforcement website. Benton and Washington counties are the only agencies in the state participating.

Washington County Sheriff Tim Helder said the task force model of 287(g) in which his office previously participated worked well.

"We would welcome dialogue with ICE on resurrecting the task force to target criminal aliens," Helder said, adding he wants to know how the program would affect the often crowded county detention center. "No one from ICE has contacted us yet, but I imagine they will once they get their arms wrapped around President Trump's orders."

Chief Deputy Jay Cantrell said the office previously had a group of deputies who would focus on checking the immigration status of people suspected of drug trafficking or other serious criminal activity.

Reviving the task force option in Washington County wouldn't mean every deputy would patrol for people living in the country illegally, Cantrell said.

"It's got to be an offense serious enough to get them into jail," he said. "A broken tail light typically wouldn't do that."

Holloway, who once worked as liaison to federal immigration agents while at the Rogers Police Department, saw the most likely scenario as federal agents asking for assistance from local jurisdictions for actions such as serving warrants, transports or the occasional SWAT operation.

"I don't see them asking us to be the main investigative body of it," Holloway said. "They have so many employees now, to be honest, if they can't do it with what they've got, they've got problems."

Local concerns

Trump's law enforcement order has found less interest among the region's four biggest cities.

Fayetteville Mayor Lioneld Jordan said he discussed the task force model with Police Chief Greg Tabor. It didn't interest Jordan a few years ago, and it doesn't interest him now, he said.

The idea easily could lead to a perception of racial profiling, said Jordan, who's working on a "welcoming city plan" to help new residents and immigrants immerse themselves in the community.

"My police officers have got plenty to do without being immigration officers as well," he said.

Mayor Doug Sprouse of Springdale said the city had no plans to rejoin 287(g). Rogers Mayor Greg Hines said immigration falls under the federal government's purview.

"We currently are involved in a number of federal task forces, and are not pursuing joining another task force at this time," Hines said, imploring Congress to fix a "dysfunctional" immigration system. He added the city would assist federal law enforcement if needed.

Bentonville Mayor Bob McCaslin said he didn't see a need to devote local police resources to such a program.

The recent arrests and possibility of expanded local enforcement meanwhile has sent rumors and fears through immigrant communities, advocates and immigration lawyers said.

"People are definitely scared. I'm getting more and more consultations asking me, 'What's going to happen to my case?'" said Laura Ferner, a lawyer in Springdale. "With a lot of the people, I have to say, I don't know what's going to happen because we just don't know."

So far, it appears Immigration and Customs Enforcement hasn't ramped up its activity in Northwest Arkansas, said Mireya Reith, executive director of the Arkansas United Community Coalition. She said the coalition has seen more activity in central Arkansas, though Little Rock Police Chief Kenton Buckner said his department's policy of focusing on people committing felonies still stands.

K. Drew Devenport, a lawyer and interim head of the University of Arkansas free immigration law clinic, said he's told clients to consider the potential risk when signing up for or renewing Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, an Obama program giving temporary work visas to people brought into the country illegally as children.

Trump hasn't rescinded the program and hasn't taken a firm stance on it, but several deferred action recipients in Northwest Arkansas declined to give interviews, wary of drawing attention to themselves in case the program is reversed.

"I think we got kind of complacent," Devenport said of the program, urging people with questions to consult with experts rather than listening to rumors about raids or new policies.

The Immigrant Resource Center in Springdale, run by the community coalition and Catholic Charities of Arkansas, is hosting regular "Know Your Rights" seminars about what to do if immigration agents come knocking. Earlier this month, speakers advised immigrants not to open the door unless the agents have a signed warrant and not to talk to investigators or sign anything without a lawyer present.

Connie Hernandez of Springdale attended one of the presentations and said she planned to pass on what she learned to several close friends who have received deferred action approval.

"A lot of people are very worried," she said. "They are very scared about being sent back when they've been here all their lives."

NW News on 02/19/2017

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