The Sentencing Project: Race and Justice News/Immigration

Tulsa Police: Local Immigration Enforcement Harms Public Safety

The sheriff’s office and city police in Tulsa, Oklahoma disagree about how to respond to undocumented immigrants, report Damien Cave and Todd Heisler in a series for the New York Times. The sheriff’s office, which joined the federal 287(g) program in 2007, is concerned that undocumented immigrants turn to drug sales because they cannot find jobs and are contributing to the expansion of Hispanic gangs. City police counter that most drug and murder arrests involve non-Hispanic citizens, the vast majority of Hispanic gang members are legal residents or citizens, and undocumented immigrants are often crime targets because of their reluctance to report incidents to authorities.

“Rather than detain immigrants suspected of being in the country illegally – a policy the sheriff’s office strongly supports – the city police say they would rather work with immigrants, here legally or not, to encourage them to report crime and reduce violence.” Professor Elizabeth M. McCormick, of the University of Tulsa College of Law, suggests the sheriff’s elected status may account for that office’s stance.

County Sheriffs End Immigration Detention, Fearing Liability

Liability concerns have led officials in nine Oregon counties, over a dozen California counties, and over 100 other counties nationally to no longer detain people in jail for additional time based on requests from federal immigration authorities. In April, a federal magistrate judge in Oregon ruled that an immigrant’s rights had been violated when she was held in jail based on a detainer, and held the county liable for damages. The Oregon ruling follows federal court decisions in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, stating that detainers do not meet the probable cause requirement in the United States Constitution. The week after the Oregon ruling, the mayor of Philadelphia signed an executive order significantly limiting police cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Secure Communities program.