A Sweep Leaves Dirt

Depending on whose account you believe, Anaheim police last week may or may not have been “actively” involved in a U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service raid on strawberry-field workers. We don’t know who is right in the dispute between police and Latino residents, but if more departments had the clear-cut policy adopted by Santa Ana police the question might never have been raised.

Santa Ana Police Chief Raymond Davis has taken an enlightened, realistic and professionally responsible approach to immigration sweeps in his jurisdiction, where illegal immigrants make up 25% of the population. Davis lets the immigration service do its job and he does his. He doesn’t ignore his responsibility to uphold the law, but he views the sweeps as “wasteful and worthless” efforts that cause all kinds of problems for local police and strain good community relations that police must have to control crime.

As a practical matter, everyone loses when illegal immigrants can’t tell the difference between a policeman and an immigration agent. That fear breaks down the trust that police constantly try to build so that more people will get involved in law enforcement by reporting crimes and appearing as witnesses in prosecution efforts.

Immigration sweeps are disruptive to community life. It would be far more practical and efficient to concentrate federal efforts at the border and in Congress where legislation such as the Simpson-Mazzoli bill could help resolve the flow of illegal immigrants seeking the better economic conditions that they see across the border.

Until that happens, local police must live with sweeps, however disruptive. In Santa Ana people are not harassed by police solely on the suspicion that they may be violating immigration laws. And police decline to take part in the regular sweeps. Action is taken only when an immigrant is involved in some other police incident. Cypress police follow a similar policy.

All police departments should adopt that approach and make the policy clear to its officers and the community. If they did, there would be less misunderstanding and friction between local police and the Latino community, and fewer disputes like the one they are now trying to resolve in Anaheim.