Councilman Wants INS Back at Jail

Councilman Tom Tait said this week he wants the city to challenge the recent decision by the Immigration and Naturalization Service to remove the agent stationed at Anaheim City Jail.

“It’s a very successful program, and there’s absolutely no reason why the INS should not prioritize its efforts on these illegal alien criminals,” Tait said.

On July 26, the INS recalled an agent who had been stationed at the jail under a pilot program. A survey showed that only 24% of arrestees were illegal immigrants, a figure too low to justify keeping an agent in the jail permanently, officials said.

A city study last fall found that about 35% of arrestees were in the United States illegally.

At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, Tait urged his colleagues to endorse strategy to get the program reinstated.

“We don’t want to just stand by and have the agent taken out of our jail,” Tait said.

Tait proposed sending INS Commissioner Doris Meissner a letter signed by the mayor to emphasize the importance of the program and outline the negative effects likely to result from its being discontinued.

He also suggested that Anaheim offer to pay for a six-month reinstatement to demonstrate its commitment. The city would need special authorization to do that, for current regulations do not permit the federal government to accept local funds.

The council directed the city staff to research Tate’s proposal, but took no further action on it.