S.B. County to Help ID Illegal Immigrants

San Bernardino County supervisors on Tuesday approved a program to identify illegal immigrants booked into the county’s jails and turn them over to federal immigration authorities for possible deportation.

“We can not only take them off the streets; we can take them out of the country,” said Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman for the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

The plan is similar to one that drew fire when it was approved in Los Angeles County earlier this year. If funded as expected by San Bernardino County, the two counties would be the only ones in California with such programs, said the California State Sheriff’s Assn. The Los Angeles County program will target only convicted inmates; San Bernardino County would interview all inmates.

The programs have drawn strong criticism from activists supporting immigrant rights, who say that immigrants -- legal and illegal -- will start to view law officers as immigration agents and will be afraid to seek help or report crimes.

San Bernardino County estimated that about 15% of the nearly 5,500 inmates in its jails daily are in the country illegally and that many aren’t flagged for immigration violations.

The county intends to broker an agreement with the federal government to have immigration agents train nine jail staff members, who could interview all inmates and mark those here illegally for immigration violations.

Immigration agents would supervise this work and take detainees into custody. Currently, the legal status of inmates is checked only by federal agents, whose numbers are limited.

“There’s no question that county jails are getting progressively bigger and that there’s vast turnover.... We probably don’t intercept every alien that comes through the jail,” said Kice.

County supervisors are expected to approve spending about $600,000 on the program within a month. It could be implemented as soon as November, officials said. The Sheriff’s Department sees the program as a cost-saving measure, saying it takes about $47 a day to house an inmate, whose average stay in a detention center is 28 days.

Supervisor Paul Biane said the program was not aimed at legal immigrants.

Supervisor Josie Gonzales asked if questioning could be restricted to inmates booked for felonies and requested that community groups be consulted.

“We must proceed with respect and dignity,” she said.

The similar plan in Los Angeles County, a model for San Bernardino County, was criticized by immigrant and civil rights groups when supervisors approved it 3 to 2 in January.

In October, immigration agents are scheduled to begin training Los Angeles County jail clerks to interview inmates about their immigration status.

“The big problem is the ripple effect,” said Reshma Shamasunder, director of the California Immigrant Welfare Collaborative. “People will just hear that others are getting caught and deported. ... [Immigrants] are already afraid to report crimes or issues within their own family, like domestic violence or rape.”