Orange’s Latino Suspects Policy Criticized

In response to a recent jump in crime committed by alien transients, the City of Orange began a controversial policy this week in which police have taken 67 Latinos to the U.S. Border Patrol in the last three days because they were unable to prove their legal residency.

The policy touched off complaints from civil rights and Latino groups who said it is discriminatory and possibly a violation of 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 neighborhood nuisances such as starting fires, sleeping in buildings and urinating in public.

Similar Policies

They said their new policy is similar to those in 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 suspected illegal aliens 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 documents such as a driver’s 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 Sgt. Timm Browne said, all 67 of the people transported to the Border Patrol have been identified as illegal aliens and deported.

Overcrowded Jails

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

City officials say the problem with 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,” Orange City Manager J. William Little said. “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 and they are thought to be responsible for much of the increase in crime. However, the police would not release specific crime figures for illegal immigrants.