Jail Project Targets Illegal Immigrants

A 60-day pilot program to identify and deport illegal immigrants detained at City Jail begins today.

The project, the first of its type at a municipal jail in Orange County, assigns agents with the Immigration and Naturalization Service to interview inmates to determine their status.

A survey conducted by the Anaheim Police Department since September found that as many as 35% of the jail’s inmates may be in the country illegally. By contrast, the INS said, about 12% of the prisoners at Los Angeles County Jail and state penal institutions are illegal immigrants.

“The 60-day pilot project is going to allow us to determine the extent of the problem” in Anaheim, said John Brechtel, acting officer for the INS Orange County office, “then to take appropriate action.” If Anaheim’s survey results prove accurate, he said, “then obviously we have a workload there.”

The fact that the INS program will last 60 days, rather than the six months requested by Anaheim, did not dampen the enthusiasm of city officials.

They have been asking the INS since fall to identify illegal immigrants at the city jail before their initial court appearances. Such suspects often fail to appear at subsequent hearings if released on their own recognizance, city officials say.

Agents from the Westminster INS office will interview prisoners, then use computers to search the INS central database to determine which inmates are in the country illegally and which foreign-born legal residents are subject to deportation if convicted of serious crimes.