The Salt Lake Tribune

AG launches undocumented immigrant crime strike force

Law enforcement » Officials promise they will only go after major crimes

By Sheena Mcfarland
The Salt Lake Tribune

A new strike force will focus on felony crime committed by undocumented immigrants, and Attorney General Mark Shurtleff is asking for victims of such crimes to come forward, regardless of their legal status.

The strike force, created by a law sponsored by Washington Terrace Rep. Brad Dee, will crack down on drug and human trafficking, the sale of fraudulent documents and other high-level crime.

"This is not a task force that talks a lot. This is a strike force," Shurtleff said Wednesday during a Capitol news conference.
"They're going to be out there aggressively investigating and prosecuting the serious felonies that are victimizing all the citizens of Utah, including, frankly, first and foremost, other members of the immigrant community, and that includes other undocumented aliens."

The strike force, which includes six full-time officers who will team up with local, state and federal officials, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents -- as long as they agree to deport only the major criminals and not undocumented immigrants who come forward as witnesses or victims, Shurtleff said.

The strike force will have to overcome the fear that exists in the undocumented immigrant community.

At least two dozen Utah residents victimized in an alleged documents fraud case now face deportation themselves in coming weeks after coming forward to cooperate with federal agents.

Earlier this year, the Government Accountability Office -- the investigative arm of Congress -- found that states who cross-deputized their officers to go after undocumented immigrants committing serious crime instead often arrested immigrants for minor offenses such as jaywalking.

Dee and Shurtleff said such mission creep would not happen.

The strike force doesn't become official until the new law takes effect July 1. But an Attorney General's investigator is doing initial work and already has opened cases based on tips from undocumented immigrants.

"We have cooperation with the Hispanic community," Shurtleff said. "That includes gaining the confidence of other undocumented immigrants because once they're victims, we have to have them willing to come forward, to provide evidence and testimony, to contact us and trust that we're there to protect them."

Dee and Shurtleff both acknowledged that the fear generated by Utah's new immigration law, SB81, that also kicks in July 1, may make undocumented immigrants hesitant to come forward.

"I think it's a concern," said Silvia Thomas, Utah Hispanic Affairs director, who supports the strike force. "The only way to deal with it is for time to pass, for crimes to be solved. Nothing I say will matter because actions speak louder than words."
However, she did say her office is willing to work with the Attorney General's Office so people can report potential crimes to her staff, who will forward on the tip.