COLUMN LEFT / GLORIA J. ROMERO : City Forces Shouldn’t Aid INS Detentions : People chased down as ‘illegals’ won’t cooperate against crime.

It is ironic, to say the least. On opening day of the recent historic summit bringing together Asians, Latinos and African-Americans with police chiefs throughout Los Angeles County--convened in the wake of loss of public trust and confidence in law enforcement following the Rodney King beating--the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) executed a raid through downtown Pomona. Assisting them were the Pomona police, even as their chief listened to Latino delegates to the summit question the wisdom of such collaboration.

Why? Because police-assisted INS raids have resulted in the detention of individuals based solely on physical and/or ethnic appearance, a violation of due process and equal protection guarantees of the U.S. and California constitutions. Furthermore, the state attorney general has determined, and the 9th District Court of Appeals has upheld, that local officials have no duty to report knowledge regarding citizenship status or to otherwise enforce civil aspects of federal immigration laws.

Such will be the challenge before the Pomona City Council tonight as Latinos seek adoption of an ordinance that forbids any city department, agency or employee to assist in any INS investigation, detention or arrest procedure related to actual or alleged violations of immigration laws. Under the proposed ordinance, police will be forbidden from providing information to INS officials regarding detainees’ citizenship and from releasing them into INS custody or in a manner that would likely result in detention. Violation of the ordinance would subject one to disciplinary action. Assistance in criminal investigations or cases involving state health and safety laws would be exempted.

If enacted, it will be a first for Los Angeles County, and only one of a handful of such laws in California. While it is weaker than the law adopted by San Francisco (both city and county), nonetheless it should challenge Latino and other immigrant-rights groups to renew drives to adopt similar ordinances elsewhere, including Los Angeles.

The adoption of this ordinance, drafted by the Pomona Latino Forum, a coalition of community activists that organized following the election of Latino council member Tomas Ursua, would represent a positive step in improving strained police/community relations in a city with a majority Latino population. Despite loopholes, the ordinance warrants passage and conscientious implementation.

While Latinos will watch carefully as a politically realigned Pomona City Council deliberates, the proposed ordinance has broader social implications that affect us all, regardless of national origin or citizenship. The very foundation of any city’s law-enforcement efforts depends on trust and cooperation, particularly as we simultaneously look to “community-based” policing. Sweep raids automatically make suspect the majority of many cities’ residents. They negate our contributions as workers and parents and our value to the cultural, social, economic and political milieu of our communities. As one chief of a predominantly Latino city commented during the police/community summit: “I cannot expect to run rampant through a community one night searching out ‘illegals’ and then turn around and expect them--disproportionate victims of crime themselves--to willingly and trustingly come forward to report crimes and serve as witnesses.”

Not only are individual rights violated when such raids are conducted, but municipalities are subjected to extensive and costly litigation ultimately paid for by taxpayers. The economic robustness of a community is further affected when residents of largely Latino jurisdictions are detained and interrogated while patronizing businesses or lawfully walking on city sidewalks. With budgetary cutbacks and rising crime, police should not be charged with chasing down “illegal-looking” men, women and children.

After years of voting-rights litigation and dramatic changes in ethnic/racial demographics throughout the county, it appears that Pomona may become the first city in Los Angeles County to adopt what can only be hailed as a progressive, humane and sensible policy. Finally, passage of the ordinance may force us to examine our own hypocrisy. As Californians, how do we legitimize our vociferous demands to find and embrace all the “invisible” immigrants missed in a census count and then turn around and help round them up for deportation once we’ve obtained more political representation and funds, thanks, in part, to their numbers?