Orange County Expanding Pilot Program to Deport Jailed Immigrants

A pilot program to identify deportable immigrants at the Orange County Jail has been so successful that it will be expanded by the end of the year, officials said Thursday.

Since the jail program began in late July, U.S. immigration agents have placed deportation holds on 103 inmates, including illegal immigrants and permanent resident aliens who can still be removed from the United States after serving their sentences.

Gus de la Vina, western regional commissioner for the Immigration and Naturalization Service, said at a press conference, “Our objective is simple: Identify the criminal aliens, put them in jail, and after time served, remove them from the country.”

But the program has also come under fire.

Thomas Saenz, general counsel for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, expressed concern that inmates may be targeted for deportation before they are tried and convicted.

“This raises questions about whether an inmate’s due process rights are being violated,” said Saenz. “At least with a conviction, you can presume that the arrest was lawful, but if you target people for deportation before they are convicted, you are doing this without a guarantee that the arrest was lawful.”

Currently, seven INS agents are assigned to County Jail and one to Superior Court. INS officials said four additional agents will be assigned to the jail by year’s end.