Jail screenings result in six deportations

Six people already have been deported, 20 are in federal custody, and 20 more could face immigration charges as a result of immigration screenings in the Costa Mesa city jail, under a program that has been in place since Dec. 4, federal officials said Wednesday.

Last month, a federal immigration agent began interviewing people booked at the Costa Mesa jail about their immigration status. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials proposed the program in November, after city leaders had talked for nearly a year about having Costa Mesa police trained to enforce immigration laws.

City and federal officials said their partnership is working well, though immigration authorities cautioned that it’s too early to make predictions about future arrest levels.

Between Dec. 4 and Dec. 31, immigration agents interviewed 138 people at the Costa Mesa jail and placed detainers on 46 of those people, said Jim Hayes, Los Angeles field office director for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

A detainer is placed on someone when “we believe that an individual is in the country unlawfully or has committed a violation of immigration law,” Hayes said. He said most of the people who had detainers had been arrested for misdemeanors, burglaries and possession of small amounts of marijuana.

“I think it clearly shows that there has been a significant negative impact from illegal immigration,” said Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor, who first suggested the city take on immigration screenings.

The 138 interviewees were among the 454 people booked in the jail throughout the whole month of December, Costa Mesa Police Lt. Allen Huggins said. He wasn’t sure how many of the bookings were between Dec. 4 and Dec. 31.

Hayes previously said the goal was to screen everyone booked at the Costa Mesa jail for immigration violations. He said Wednesday that he believes the 138 people interviewed in December “are primarily the majority of foreign-born individuals” booked at the city jail.

Of the roughly 300 people who weren’t interviewed, he said, “either the others were going on to the Orange County jail or there was no question at all that they were citizens of the United States.”

A federal agent has screened people at the county jail in the past, and Orange County Sheriff’s deputies recently completed federal training and began screening people there Dec. 22.

Hayes said 45 of the 46 people who had immigration detainers placed on them were Mexican nationals, and one was a Chilean national. One of them already has been deported three times and has an arrest record in five states, and another has five previous deportations and multiple convictions for drug offenses, he said.

“I think what this shows is that [Immigration and Customs Enforcement]’s dedication to this program is producing results,” Hayes said. “It certainly proves to us that there are individuals being arrested in Costa Mesa that are in violation of federal immigration law. These are the people we want to identify, we want to prevent from being released back into the community.”

Mansoor agreed that the early statistics show the program was needed. “This clearly will help reduce crime when these people are deported,” he said.

Some concerns linger, especially in the city’s Latino community.

Mirna Burciaga, who runs a Salvadoran restaurant on Costa Mesa’s Westside and ran for the City Council in November, said she’s been hearing more negative than positive feedback from people she talks to about the city’s immigration agent. People are wondering whether they’ll be brought to the jail for minor violations like driving without a license, Burciaga said.

“People are very concerned about what it takes to be taken to the Costa Mesa Police Department and be screened,” she said.

City Councilwoman Katrina Foley, who voted against having city police enforce immigration, said she supports having the federal government handle it but added that border security needs to be addressed or deportations won’t make a difference.

Considering the number of people with detainers placed on them made up about 10% of the bookings in December, the city should focus law enforcement on the other 90% of people committing crimes who are in the country legally, Foley said.