Davidson County sheriff says arrests will continue
By Kate Howard and Chris Echegaray
THE TENNESSEAN
The federal government will no longer detain illegal immigrants caught driving
without a license in Nashville.
Instead, the federal system wants to use its bed space to house and deport the
most dangerous offenders.
The change is good news to advocates who have complained from the beginning,
in spring 2007, that the focus of the local immigration enforcement program
is misplaced on people who are only committing traffic infractions.
In fact, one of the biggest criticism of the Davidson County Sheriff's Office
has been that all offenders, from those driving without a license to those committing
violent felonies, are treated to the same punishment once they are identified
as illegal immigrants.
The sheriff, who has stood behind the efficacy of the program, says he will
continue to screen every foreign-born person arrested, whether they go directly
to federal custody or not.
"Just because the federal government is saying we need to prioritize who
is detained, doesn't remove the fact they'll be held accountable in the courtroom,"
said Sheriff Daron Hall.
"There is no shift. We are still processing everyone for every crime."
Most of the 5,300 people sent toward deportation from Nashville's jail in the
past two years spent weeks shuffled from one jail cell to another before being
sent out of the country. About 75 percent of them were picked up on traffic
offenses ranging from driving without a license to DUI; 25 percent were charged
only with license offenses.
Those people will now be eligible to be released on their own recognizance,
allowed to leave jail once they've resolved their local charges and have a court
date to see an immigration judge in Memphis.
Clearer priorities
Overcrowding in the federal prison system coupled with an effort by the federal
government to establish clearer priorities regarding deportation spurred the
change.
Even though immigration advocates hail the federal decision, deportation is
still likely for the illegal immigrants screened through the program —
known as 287g.
Stephen Fotopulos, executive director of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee
Rights Coalition, says it's still punishing members of society for driving when
they can't get legal permission to do so.
"Upwards of 95 percent of them, under a current broken system, have no
chance for meaningful release (when they go before an immigration judge) in
Memphis," Fotopulos said.
"It will allow people to have access to immigration counsel and make good
decisions about their family. It's easier to do that when you're not in a holding
cell in Alabama."
According to jail statistics, the number of people determined to be illegal
immigrants in the jail has dropped by 4 percent over the program's first year.
Fotopulos is not convinced the numbers are as positive as Hall says. He believes
the immigrant population in Nashville dropped by several thousand last year
and the ratio should be dropping faster.
But Metro Police Chief Ronal Serpas says there has been no change in the way
his officers approach policing since the 287g program went into effect. The
police department has no immigration enforcement powers, but they're indirectly
related to the process because anyone police bring to booking at the jail is
subject to the screening.
Citations not arrests
Anyone who can prove identity through passports, phone bills or otherwise will
be issued a citation for a misdemeanor offense if they haven't skipped court
appearances before, Serpas said. Those receiving citations in lieu of arrests
are not screened for immigration status.
Matt Chandler, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, says
the decision not to house traffic offenders is in keeping with the department's
priorities in terms of whom to detain and remove from the country.
"It always has been and always will be criminal aliens who pose a public
safety or national security threat who we're most concerned about," Chandler
said.
It's up to Immigration and Customs Enforcement to shift their resources to where
they're most needed, Chandler said.
Hall said the directive came early this month in an e-mail from Immigration
and Customs Enforcement.
The change comes too late for Yadira Hernandez, who saw two neighbors vanish
after a traffic stop. They didn't have driver's licenses and were sent back
to Mexico.
Under the new policy, if her neighbors committed only traffic offenses, they
would be able to return to their families and get their affairs in order before
being deported.
Hernandez knows the danger she's in when she drives her children to school,
church and doctor's appointments. Those trips are not a luxury.
"It's not like I'm cruising around. It's for a purpose,'' Hernandez said.
Hernandez was one of hundreds of people who went last week to the Iglesia de
Dios Hispana (Hispanic Church of God) in East Nashville to get an identification
card and passport from the Mexican government. The consulate has been coming
to Nashville almost monthly now to meet the tremendous need for official IDs.
The "mobile consulates" are important for people who can't drive to
the consulate in Atlanta but need to be able to prove who they are, said Abigail
Calleja, who travels with the consulate program. The need in Nashville has outweighed
what they've seen in other Southern cities.
"Every time we come, we open up 1,000 appointments, and they are full within
hours," Calleja said. "You don't see that anywhere else."
Quiet encouragement
Immigrants are quietly encouraged by advocates and their church leaders to carry
as many forms of identification as they can in case they get stopped.
"When police don't have any ID, they take a person to jail," said
pastor Jose Rodriguez Marin. "You need good ID."
Marin, a Spanish-language radio DJ with a rapidly growing congregation, presided
over a constantly replenished line of people seeking passports.
Anita Vasquez came to get a passport and a Matricula, the Mexican ID, although
she doesn't attempt to drive.
"It's better to be prepared," she said.
With more than 2,300 people held in jail last year waiting to be transferred
to federal custody, Renata Soto's advocacy organization was busy.
They've spent many hours this year trying to help their clients with things
they never expected to be worried about, such as powers of attorney in case
they need to designate someone to care for their children. They also deal with
dual citizenship requests for American-born children so they can go with their
parents if they're deported.
"For me that is an indication of how people truly live in fear," said
Soto, executive director of Conexion Americas. "People know it's a matter
of chance often that they could be in that predicament."
Controversial year
It's been a controversial year for the fledgling 287g program. Last summer,
the sheriff's office took national flak for the treatment of an illegal immigrant
arrested for careless driving.
She was taken into custody over a holiday weekend and gave birth after her leg
was shackled to the bed during portions of her labor.
Hall defended her classification as a medium-security inmate, saying she was
a flight risk because she had been deported once before.
But he changed the policy on how they handle birth in custody two months later,
vowing that pregnant inmates would no longer be restrained unless there was
a credible threat.
In March, the federal government released a report highly critical of the way
the 287g program has been implemented across the nation.
Hall said he would welcome more consistency, although he will be concerned if
the government stops letting him screen everyone who is booked.
It's not his concern whether the person is detained or released with a court
date, Hall said, so long as he's still allowed to identify them as illegal immigrants.
But he expects that many people ordered to go to an immigration judge in Memphis
won't show up.
"I just hope it's not a set-up for failure," he said.
Hall says he has made some changes to make things easier for the federal inmates
kept in jail for roughly a week while they await pickup from Immigration and
Customs Enforcement — and their families who need to see them.
He has put all the inmates with immigration holds in the same unit, so Spanish-language
Mass and visits from the Mexican consulate are easier to arrange. Hall said
the menu for the inmates has the same calorie content as that for the general
population, but he has changed the options.
He has made visitation more flexible, so families wary of showing identification
and signing their name on a list are allowed to skip those formalities. No appointments
are necessary, and the hours are extended so families can come whenever they're
able.
Still, fundamental arguments against the program remain. Though more people
will be released while awaiting immigration charges and will have access to
an attorney, it doesn't change the fact that people have not been proved guilty
before they've been deemed a "criminal alien" by the government.
Hedy Weinberg, executive director of the Tennessee chapter of the American Civil
Liberties Union, says if the program must continue, it should be moved to a
different part of the justice process.
"For fairness and due process, the 287g program would best be implemented
if it were used to screen after a conviction," Weinberg said.
Additional Facts
THE 287G PROGRAM IN NASHVILLE Since inception:
• Total people processed for deportation: 5,300
• Returned and been rearrested: about 2 percent
April ’08-April ’09:
• No criminal history before arrest: 70 percent
• Arrested on a felony: 20 percent
• Ever arrested for a violent felony in Nashville: 5 percent
• Arrested for a license offense only: 26 percent