ICE finds 500 are illegal

Since Immigration and Customs Enforcement first set up residence at the Costa Mesa City Jail, officials have identified more than 500 illegal immigrants who met the criteria to be deported, authorities said Thursday.

Out of the department’s 5,369 arrests between December 2006 and November of this year, 2,045 were held for interview by the ICE agent. And in that time, 520 illegal immigrants have been identified.

Roughly 45 arrestees are held on average each month on immigration detainers to ensure they make it into ICE custody upon their release from jail and face federal deportation hearings.

Some view the year’s results as a clear indication that this was the correct course of action for the city. Others see no change whatsoever, and still others are just tired of hearing about the issue.

Councilwoman Wendy Leece said it’s always good when the city’s resources are used to defend the law.

“This is just making the public safer by upholding the law,” Leece said.

“If it were not for the efforts of [Councilman] Eric Bever, [former Councilman] Gary Monahan and [Mayor] Allan Mansoor who pushed for the enforcement program, we would not have the ICE agent in our jail today,” Leece said. “This has been very effective in reducing and preventing crime and also shows compassion for the victims.”

“I think the police would be the only ones to know if the program is effective,” City Councilwoman Katrina Foley said when asked for an opinion on the enforcement program a year later. She declined further comment.

“I think it’s accomplished some of the goals the community set forth,” City Councilwoman Linda Dixon said.

The council has not discussed whether the program will continue, but Dixon could not see any reason why it wouldn’t.

Many more are being deported as a result of it, but it hasn’t driven up the number of arrests, Sgt. Mark Manley said.

“This doesn’t impact the way our officers do their jobs,” Manley said. “That is probably the biggest misconception out there.”

For the most part, the agent and police work independently, said Manley, who took charge of the jail in July. On the “land level” the officer still does the same job, still “providing the same level of service to the community,” Manley added.

The difference comes once the arrested person enters the jail. That is when the ICE agent gets involved.

All in all it’s been a smooth working relationship and a learning curve on both sides, Manley said.

The numbers alone speak volumes, though, for ICE officials. With 60 detainers issued in the Criminal Alien Program’s second month it became clear that a need was there in Costa Mesa, said Jim Hayes, the ICE field office director for the Los Angeles area.

“Well, when we first started this program a year ago I kept getting calls from the Pilot and the [Orange County] Register every month asking me if I thought that the program was effective, and I kept telling them it wasn’t enough time,” Hayes said. “Certainly now that a year has gone by, it’s time to evaluate the program and I definitely see, based on the numbers, that it is worth our time.

“I think if we’re talking about a city the size of Costa Mesa and we can come in every month and pull out 45 people committing crimes that’s a good thing,” Hayes added.

Hayes pointed out that among those detained this year was a Mexican national with prior robbery and narcotics sales convictions.

Juan Ortega-Torres, 32, had been deported three times in the past and was arrested by Costa Mesa police during a routing traffic stop in June, according to ICE.

Ortega-Torres was arrested for using a fraudulent driver’s license, subsequently interviewed and pleaded guilty to illegal re-entry into the county, ICE officials said. He faces up to 20 years in a U.S. prison, according to authorities.

“This is the classic example of why we should be there,” Hayes said. “Is this the person we want in our community? Certainly not.”

It doesn’t always happen that way, though, Hayes acknowledged, a large number of people face deportation after arrests for minor infractions. But the law is the law, he asserted.

“The infraction that they are committing really has no bearing on whether or not they violated immigration laws,” Hayes said. “Overstaying a visa or coming in illegally is a crime, and that’s what we enforce.

“The situations are always heart-wrenching, they’re not always as clear-cut as a violent criminal, but the consequence for the person’s actions is the fault of that person themselves.”

To Crissy Brooks, a member of the Costa Mesa Housing Coalition, a low-income housing advocacy group, ICE’s presence in the city’s jail has caused cultural disunity.

“My concern is that it hasn’t been just for people who are suspected felons,” Brooks said. Her encounters have been with those who get pulled over or stopped on the street for reasons that may not be clear to them, she said.

The trade-off is criminals are off the streets, Brooks said, but added that it has driven fear and a lack of trust in local law enforcement among Latinos in the community.

Also, the deportations have split up families.

“However you feel about immigrants, it just adds to the instability in a kid’s home,” Brooks said.

— Joseph Serna contributed to this story.

KELLY STRODL may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at [email protected].