Police Chief Supports Study Criticizing Immigration Program 287(g)
From The Houston Chronicle
Parts of ICE plan worry Hurtt
By JAMES PINKERTON Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt was in Washington on Wednesday, supporting a study criticizing the controversial immigration program known as 287(g), in which his department is planning to participate.
Hurtt said the department has applied for 287(g) training for Houston police to use federal immigration databases but only to check on those booked into the city’s two jails.
He said he favors that portion of the program but is opposed to the street-level phase of the federal immigration law, allowing local and state police to make immigration arrests and process offenders for deportation.
The yearlong study of 287(g) by the nonpartisan Police Foundation was critical of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement program, concluding it erodes law enforcement’s public safety mission, diverts scarce resources, increases exposure to liability to charges of racial profiling, and heightens fear in communities.
“Immigration enforcement by local police is counterproductive to community policing efforts. It undermines the trust and cooperation of immigrant communities, could lead to charges of racial profiling, and increases our response time to urgent calls for service,” Hurtt said during a Capitol Hill press event in Washington.
In an interview after the news conference, Hurtt said Houston’s participation in 287(g) was a decision Mayor Bill White made after an illegal immigrant shot Houston police officer Rick Salter while he was serving a search warrant this year.
“The mayor, he was the point man on this. It was his idea, and, of course, he consulted with members of the department,” Hurtt said, adding that he supports the screening in city jails.
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Contact james.pinkerton@chron.com
james.pinkerton@chron.com
