Rules Eased on Freeing Illegal Immigrants : Border: Policy change allows those stopped by Border Patrol to be freed on their own recognizance if they ask for a deportation hearing.

In a major change from existing immigration policy, undocumented immigrants arrested in San Diego County will be released on their own recognizance if they ask for a deportation hearing rather than having to post a cash bond or be held in a detention center, Border Patrol officials said Tuesday.

The new policy, a change from previous Immigration and Naturalization Service policy that required illegal immigrants contesting deportation to post a bond of at least $1,000 or be housed in detention while awaiting a hearing, took Border Patrol agents, INS officials and immigration attorneys by surprise.

Illegal immigrants can also forgo a hearing by opting for voluntary deportation, a choice many make so they can return to the other side of the border and attempt another crossing.

Privately, INS officials said Tuesday they oppose the plan. They warned that it will create a logistics problem for INS staffers as they try to keep track of immigrants released on their own recognizance with the promise to appear at a later court hearing.

Border Patrol spokesman Steve Kean said the change will be effective in the San Diego sector only, beginning Friday, which covers an area roughly from the border to the San Onofre immigration checkpoint and to the Imperial County line. The sector consistently has the highest number of arrests of illegal immigrants in the United States.

“A court date will be issued at which time the person will have to appear at a deportation proceeding. . . . This will apply only if the person is a low flight risk,” Kean said. “If a person is considered a public danger or a flight risk, then we will institute the traditional custody proceedings.”

Kean said the change was made because of the closure of the small Border Patrol detention facility in San Ysidro, which officials said is no longer cost effective. The facility, which could house up to 300 illegal immigrants at a time, will be closed completely by Sunday.

Last year, 4,637 illegal immigrants described by the Border Patrol as “other than Mexican” were detained at the agency’s San Ysidro facility, some of whom had requested deportation hearings.

Agents arrested 540,347 illegal immigrants in the San Diego sector in 1991, most of them Mexicans, Kean said.

Illegal immigrants who need to be locked up will now be sent to INS detention facilities in El Centro or Descanso, in East San Diego County.

In addition, the new policy was needed because “the number of people detained for deportation hearings has decreased significantly in the last couple of years.” In the past, most people who requested deportation hearings were illegal immigrants identified by the Border Patrol as “other than Mexican,” he said.

According to Border Patrol figures, the number of illegal immigrants arrested in the San Diego area who were not Mexican citizens decreased from 15,048 in 1986 to 4,637 last year.

“As things stabilized in Central America and the Mexican government increased its enforcement (of immigration laws) on the border with Guatemala, we have noticed a sharp decrease in the number of people requesting these hearings,” said Kean.

Some Border Patrol agents who spoke to The Times and who did not want to be identified said the new policy will benefit mostly alien smugglers and Mexican nationals arrested by the Border Patrol.

Mexicans apprehended by the Border Patrol almost always choose voluntary deportation, so they can be deported quickly and make another attempt to enter the United States.

“As soon as word gets out, you’re going to have the coyotes (smugglers) telling the aliens to ask for a deportation hearing . . . when they’re apprehended. And why not? Get arrested, get released without having to post bond and continue north,” said a veteran agent.

However, Kean said Border Patrol officials do not believe Mexican border-crossers will abuse the policy.

“I don’t think the average person entering the country will utilize that sort of tactic,” Kean said. “Asking for a hearing will create a permanent record with the INS. If a person fails to appear at a hearing, he can be ordered deported in absentia and cannot reapply for entry into the United States or adjustment of status for five years.” Failure to appear at the hearing is a felony offense.

Immigration attorney Robert Mautino of San Diego, who expressed surprise at the new policy, was not as confident.

“My first reaction is that people who know they can get out (of custody) without having to post bond will probably take advantage of it,” Mautino said. “ . . . But I must admit that I am surprised by the news. I never had any inkling that this policy was going to become effective.”

He echoed Kean’s comments and said recent changes in the immigration laws have stiffened the penalty for people who skip their deportation hearings. In the past, an immigrant could explain his absence at a hearing simply by saying he never received a notice from the INS. Now, immigrants are required to keep the INS and court informed of their whereabouts.