Garcetti Vows to Seek Prison in Fake-ID Cases : Immigration: District attorney says his office will attempt to vigorously enforce the only provision of Prop. 187 that is not blocked by legal challenges.

Vowing vigorous enforcement of the only aspects of Proposition 187 in effect, Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti pledged Thursday to seek prison terms for anyone who violates the new laws against the use, manufacture, distribution and sale of false documents to conceal citizenship or immigration status.

“We have made a policy decision in this office that Proposition 187 will be enforced as the voters thought it would be enforced,” Garcetti told a news conference where he announced the crackdown.

The district attorney was referring to the one portion of Proposition 187--its false-documents provisions--that is not blocked by legal challenges. Federal court orders have enjoined most of the wide-ranging immigration initiative, which was approved overwhelmingly by California voters in November.

Proposition 187 would bar illegal immigrants from receiving public education, non-emergency health care and most other taxpayer-funded services, while requiring that school administrators, police and social workers report suspected illegal immigrants to federal authorities. Immigrant advocates and others call the initiative unconstitutional.

Most major Los Angeles law enforcement figures, including Garcetti, came out against Proposition 187, predicting an increase in crime as illegal immigrant youngsters were barred from public schools.

The sole provisions of Proposition 187 that now have force of law are those mandating five-year prison terms and fines of up to $75,000 for anyone convicted of the manufacture, distribution or sale of false documents to conceal citizenship or immigration status. The wide availability of counterfeit and stolen documents, experts say, has undermined the effectiveness of federal laws prohibiting the employment of illegal immigrants.

But Garcetti said “careless wording” by Proposition 187’s authors has left judges with the discretion to impose sentences including probation with no jail time. The district attorney said his office will seek the five-year terms “whenever possible,” though the policy does not apply to misdemeanor prosecutions for the manufacture or sale of a single false document.