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Immigration See other Immigration Articles Title: Troopers would arrest immigrants Troopers would arrest immigrants By Yvonne Abraham and Scott Helman, Globe Staff | June 21, 2006 Governor Mitt Romney is seeking an agreement with federal authorities that would allow Massachusetts state troopers to arrest undocumented immigrants for being in the country illegally. Currently, State Police have no authority to arrest people on the basis of their immigration status alone, said Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom. If they arrest immigrants for violations of state law, troopers can call a centralized US Immigration and Customs Enforcement center in Vermont to check on their status, and can detain immigrants if federal officials request it. Under the agreement Romney is seeking, troopers would have greatly expanded powers: They could check an immigrant's legal status during routine patrols such as during a traffic stop and decide whether the immigrant should be held. ``It's one more thing you can do to make this a less attractive place for illegal aliens to come to work," Romney said. The governor has instructed his legal counsel to contact Immigration and Customs Enforcement to begin the process. The powers, Romney said, would give the State Police a way of ``finding and detaining illegal aliens in the ordinary course of business." Federal immigration authorities would provide the troopers with 4 1/2 weeks of training in immigration laws and procedures, civil rights, and avoiding racial profiling. If the proposal is approved, Massachusetts would join a handful of states and localities that have entered into such pacts since they were first authorized in 1996. That list includes Florida, Alabama, and a few counties in California and North Carolina, where a limited number of officers have been trained to enforce immigration laws. The agreement would not require legislative approval, said Fehrnstrom. The arrangement is likely to be controversial in Massachusetts, where Cambridge, for example, has passed a resolution declaring itself a sanctuary for immigrants, and moves are underway in other cities to follow that example. Immigrant and civil rights advocates derided the plan yesterday, saying that turning troopers into immigration enforcement agents would lead to racial profiling and have a chilling effect on immigrants who might otherwise report crimes. ``This will overwhelm the State Police force, it will hinder real law enforcement, real community law enforcement, and it clearly will lead to racial and ethnic profiling," said Carol Rose, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts. ``That's not effective law enforcement, or effective immigration policy." Police across the state have put great energy into convincing immigrants that they should report crimes without fear of drawing scrutiny from immigration authorities, said Rose and others, and empowering state troopers to enforce immigration law against undocumented immigrants who have broken no state laws would undermine that trust. Domestic violence advocates said they also feared that the agreement would make immigrant victims afraid to report those crimes. ``If we are going to encourage people to call the police for help while in danger, but those police might come to their door and ask for their green card, people are going to hide even more than they already do," said Laurie Holmes, executive director of Chelsea-based HarborCOV, a domestic violence organization. Fehrnstrom rejected those criticisms. Undocumented immigrants have broken the law just by being here, he said, and the state needs to take action against them. ``It's not a very effective argument to say that people who are in the country illegally will be less likely to report crime if they themselves are arrested," he said. ``If we applied that principle across the board, we wouldn't arrest anybody for anything for fear it would deter crime reporting." The proposal greatly pleased those who favor stricter immigration control. Some officials are feeling frustrated with the lack of action in Washington to address a rapidly growing immigrant population. ``I think that's a good thing," said Representative Marie J. Parente, a Milford Democrat whose community has enacted licensing regulations that make it more difficult for undocumented immigrants to settle there. ``We need to do something," Parente said. ``I think that will be a message, that the state of Massachusetts welcomes you if you're within the law." Immigration and Customs Enforcement, part of the Department of Homeland Security, has received many calls from states and counties seeking information on the agreements and is working with a dozen government entities to craft memoranda of understandings tailored to their needs, said Mike Gilhooly, communications director for the department's New England division. The agreements give federal authorities more muscle, Gilhooly said. ``It's a force multiplier," he said. Most of those already in place are narrow in scope: in Florida, 63 officers from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, who are already focused on domestic security, have the authority to act when they encounter undocumented immigrants. In Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Riverside counties in California, Mecklenberg County in North Carolina, and in Arizona, jail officers have been trained to locate undocumented immigrants among those being held and to begin deportation proceedings with federal authorities. Alabama's agreement, which is similar to what Romney is seeking, authorizes 44 state troopers to enforce immigration law. ``They are enforcing immigration law in the course of their duties," Gilhooly said. ``They are not involved in major immigration operations on a daily basis. They are performing their duties, and when they encounter immigration violations or criminals who are illegal aliens, they can and do take action." A spokesman for the State Police said officials were not available yesterday to respond to Romney's proposal.
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