Moving Out : S.D. Police Flout Their Own Policy and Scatter Migrant Squatters With a Warning

Concerned about the possible presence of thieves in an immigrant squatter encampment, San Diego police recently requested that a landowner provide authorities with a letter authorizing officers to cite the 100 or so residents for trespassing on the otherwise-vacant parcel east of Del Mar.

Police also visited the site and warned squatters of an impending cleanup, and issued a similar warning to a nearby nursery that employs some camp dwellers. Police told the general manager at Village Nurseries that U.S. immigration authorities might shortly be raiding the site, according to a nursery official, prompting the nursery to circulate a memo advising workers of “arrests and possible deportations.”

Although police and the landowner say no actual cleanup was planned--and a police lieutenant now describes the episode as a “major misunderstanding”--the effect of the multiple warnings was to panic many of the 100 or so camp residents and send many packing into more isolated nearby canyons, where they built new dwellings.

“Why are they chasing us off?” asked Crispin Duran, a 40-year-old father of six from Mexico’s Guerrero state who was among those who moved his shack down the hillside in anticipation of bulldozers and police officers. “We can’t afford to live anywhere else.”

Officially, San Diego police have a hands-off policy on immigration issues. They do not detain anyone solely because of his immigration status, nor do officers actively enforce trespassing laws on migrant encampments or move squatters out of the sites without first being contacted by landowners or obtaining court orders authorizing action.

Immigrant advocates have long pressed local police agencies to adopt such hands-off policies on issues involving immigrants. Critics say police lack the needed expertise and training and that cooperation with U.S. immigration authorities could prompt immigrants to avoid contact with police on other, more serious matters.

“Our policy is we don’t get involved with immigration matters,” said Manuel C. Guaderrama, deputy San Diego police chief in charge of all field operations. “Our position is we’re not going to go around soliciting permission from owners to move migrants.”

That, however, is exactly what happened recently at the approximately 2-acre encampment off Black Mountain Road and Lansdale Drive in the North City West community, east of Del Mar, in an area being rapidly developed.

Police officials defended the action, maintaining that it was motivated by fears that thieves may be residing in the encampment--not by the immigration status of camp-dwellers.

“That was good, pro-active police work,” Lt. Randy L. Nisleit of San Diego police Northern Division said of one of his officer’s decision to request the letter from the landowner, contact the nursery and visit the camp warning residents of a cleanup. “We want our officers on the beats to respond pro-actively to crime problems, and I’m sure that’s what the community wants.”

But he conceded that no police cleanup of the site was planned, despite an officer’s warnings to camp dwellers of such an action. The lieutenant also conceded that police had identified no specific suspects residing in the encampment. He described the panic induced at the site as a “major misunderstanding.”

Chief Guaderrama said there was nothing wrong with contacting a landlord when potential thieves had been identified among a group of migrants. “It didn’t have anything to do with immigration; they had a crime problem up there,” Guaderrama said.

However, Guaderrama also acknowledged that the effect of the trespassing warnings would likely have been only to move the residents--including any suspected thieves--to more isolated spots. “They’re going to move to another canyon nearby,” Guaderrama said.

When suspected criminals are identified as living in a camp, Guaderrama said, the standard police response is to question the suspects--not to issue trespassing citations and move all the residents elsewhere. “If

we hear shots are fired, we try to find out who fired the shots,” Guaderrama said.

The parcel is part of a 9.4-acre undeveloped lot owned by The Children’s School, a 180-student private elementary and preschool in La Jolla. The encampment, one of dozens in northern San Diego County, is unusual in that its wood-and-plastic dwellings are visible from the road.

On Friday, Oct. 26, school officials said, officer Shari Ortega from the San Diego police northern division telephoned Peter Christian, the school’s business manager, and requested that he provide a letter authorizing police to cite the squatters for trespassing. Police routinely keep such letters on file, although the documents are usually sent after landowners contact authorities about a problem, said police Lt. Nisleit.

“Police contacted the school and requested that the school write a letter authorizing them to clear the land,” said Michael Steres, president of the school’s board of trustees.

School authorities were unaware of the camp’s presence until the police call, Steres said. The school now plans to provide the letter to authorities, Steres said.

“It seems appropriate for us to cooperate with the police,” Steres said.

On Oct. 27, camp dwellers said, two police officers visited the site and warned residents of a cleanup that was scheduled in a few days. “Everyone was really scared,” said Honorino Villa, 26, who drives a catering truck and supplies food to the camp.