Orange Police Turn Over 67 Latinos to Border Patrol

In response to a recent jump in crime that police say is committed by alien transients, the city of Orange began a controversial policy this week in which 67 Latinos were taken to the U.S. Border Patrol because they were unable to prove legal residency.

The policy touched off complaints from civil rights and Latino groups that contend it is discriminatory and may violate civil rights laws.

“It raises very serious concerns as to rights of due process,” said Rebecca Jurado, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney in Orange County. “It seems that they are trying to blame all of the ills of the city on a group of people that they are biased against.”

But Orange city officials said they are responding to an overwhelming increase in the number of alien transients who have committed crimes and caused such neighborhood nuisances as starting fires, sleeping in buildings and urinating in public.

They said their new policy is similar to that of other cities, including Santa Ana, where police said they have been transporting suspected aliens to the Border Patrol since 1986.

Santa Ana police and Border Patrol officials, however, described the volume of individuals in Orange as unusually high.

Under the Orange policy, Latinos who have been stopped for certain misdemeanors are taken to the police station and asked to prove their residency with such documents as a driver license or through telephone calls to family or associates. If the person’s status as a U.S. resident is not established, the police can then transport the individual to the U.S. Border Patrol station in San Clemente.

So far, Orange Police Sgt. Timm Browne said all 67 of those turned over to the Border Patrol have been identified as illegal aliens, and have been deported.

Previously, people stopped by police for the same offenses were cited and released. Police said that if the Orange County jail system were not overcrowded, the suspects might be jailed.

City officials say the problem caused by releasing the suspected aliens on a citation is that they frequently give false names and then return to the streets to cause more problems.

“They’re camping out and they’re sleeping in garages and there are just more and more of them,” said Orange City Manager J. William Little. “We’re just trying to control it.”

Police estimated that 250 to 300 illegal aliens congregate daily along Chapman Avenue between Yorba Street and Rancho Santiago Boulevard. Police say these aliens are responsible for much of the increase in crime. However, the police did not release specific crime figures for illegal immigrants.

Little said the policy was suggested by Police Chief Wayne V. Streed and that the City Council was briefed on the idea at a closed-door meeting Tuesday. Little said there were no objections from the council or the city attorney, who was also present.

City officials also said they were being extra careful not to abuse civil rights with the new policy.

They said the person had to have been stopped for a crime, which police described as an “arrestable offense” such as a traffic infraction or violations of the Municipal Code. City officials also said offenses could include spitting on the street, vandalism, trespassing and urinating in public.

But police were vague on exactly what crimes would justify deportation.

Orange Sgt. Joe Consoli said police try to telephone two or three sources to confirm a person’s residential status if there is no documentation such as a driver license or a resident registration card.

“We’re not picking them up because they’re out there,” Little said. “We’re picking them up because they violate the law.”

City Councilman Fred Barrera said, “If you break any law or ordinance; if you’re out there urinating in public or becoming a nuisance to someone, you have to be confronted.”

Barrera added: “They can be any particular alien from any country, not necessarily an Hispanic. It could be a Canadian or anyone.”

In Santa Ana, Lt. Earl Porter said: “We’re not concerned about the (aliens) who are here and just doing their jobs. We’re concerned with those that are here and are committing crimes.”

But Latino activists said they were still concerned about the practice because of its potential for interfering with legitimate residents and its possible discrimination against a single ethnic group.

Amin David, president of Los Amigos of Orange County, said he was “very shocked and appalled” about Orange’s practice.

“What happens to a Mexican-American who has a legal status here?” he said. “We don’t carry citizenship papers. Does that mean that for an infraction I can be stopped . . . (and) taken to San Clemente?”

Richard P. Herman, an ACLU attorney, said Orange has been guilty of what he called “similar racist acts.” And he bluntly added, “The intention of the policy is to drive people of Hispanic background out of the city of Orange.”

Victor Conde, an attorney who works with illegal aliens at the Community Law Center in Santa Ana, said he was concerned about the civil rights issues, but he said it is also a delicate dilemma for police.

“You have to admit that there is a problem and these people are causing some of it,” he said. “But there’s a balancing act that has to be done. There is sort of a presumption that they are unlawful and it is a violation of someone’s freedom of movement.”