Police in Orange Turn Over 7 More to Border Patrol

Seven more people were snatched up by Orange police Monday along East Chapman Avenue and turned over to the U.S. Border Patrol for possible deportation, authorities said.

Orange Police Sgt. Timm Browne, the department’s spokesman, said the detainment of people suspected of being illegal aliens will continue indefinitely, although the number of arrests has dwindled significantly over the past week.

He said the seven arrests Monday and another eight during the weekend had brought the number of aliens turned over to the Border Patrol to 164 since the sweeps began Feb. 23.

Browne added that police had also arrested another eight people: two juveniles turned over to their parents, three men who were cited and released, and another three men who were booked into Orange County Jail on outstanding arrest warrants.

The police are citing the men for minor infractions and turning over to the Border Patrol those who cannot produce proof of legal residency. Police officials have said the action is a response to complaints by residents and business owners along the street about large numbers of day laborers who congregate there each day.

The arrests have sparked protests from civil rights and immigrant rights groups in the county. The American Civil Liberties Union has threatened to seek a court order forcing the police to stop the practice.

However, Browne and Bruce Praet, an attorney representing the Police Department, have said the arrests are not unconstitutional and will continue until the problem is solved along the business area of East Chapman Avenue.

Rebecca Jurado, an ACLU lawyer critical of the sweeps, said Monday that a decision on whether to seek the court order will not be made until she and representatives of the Orange County Coalition for Immigrant Rights meet Thursday with Praet and Browne.

“We’re waiting to sit down and talk about it,” she said. “We have to see where they are. If they are willing to negotiate in good faith, fine. If they don’t, then it sounds like litigation to me.”

In the meantime, Jurado said, day laborers who congregate along East Chapman Avenue will be counseled by members of immigrant rights’ groups on their civil rights when confronted by police. That practice was begun last week.

“We’re still plugging along, handing out leaflets and educating them,” Jurado said.