April 10--SANTA CRUZ -- County Sheriff-Coroner Phil Wowak is at odds with members of the county's immigrant communities over a proposed deportation-related policy linked to the controversial Secure Communities program.
Under a pending policy, sheriff's deputies would assess jailed illegal immigrants to decide whether to comply with federal detainer requests, which can lead to deportation. But the proposal -- which until today has been debated beyond the glare of a county board hearing -- faces opposition from the county's Latino Affairs Commission and even crisis counselors who say it puts victims of domestic violence at risk.
"A lot of efforts have gone into building partnerships with law enforcement and encouraging women over the last several decades to come forward for their safety and protection," said Laura Segura-Gallardo, executive director of Defensa de Mujeres, who said she could no longer advise victims to come forward. "The Secure Communities program undermines those efforts."
In police departments across the county, officers often do not inquire about immigration status. A primary reason is to encourage victims of domestic violence and other crimes to come forward without fear they or family members will be deported.
But under the 4-year-old Secure Communities program, local jail bookings are checked against federal immigration databases. The program is aimed at deporting criminals with a history of violence, but critics say it is sweeping up nonviolent offenders and jeopardizing law enforcement's hard-won relationships with immigrant communities.
Segura-Gallardo said many women do not want to see their partners deported, and that the justice system can play a positive role by helping repair abusive relationships. Women who rely on their male partners for financial support can be particularly vulnerable, she said.
"From a victim perspective and from a family perspective, we don't want to see families broken up because of Secure Communities," Segura-Gallardo said.
Amid local outcry, last year the county convened a task force to look at Secure Communities, which began here in August 2010. The group met with Wowak several times, and while attendees said Wowak listened to concerns, a fundamental sticking point seems to be whether any local authority should be involved in deciding who gets deported.
In a letter to the board, the sheriff outlined plans to move forward with assessing whether to hold inmates for immigration officials, using a method based on screenings of inmates for possible release with charges pending. The county board will get an update on the issue during its meeting Tuesday, but it has no authority over the independently elected Wowak.
Wowak could not be reached for comment Monday, but said in the board letter he intends to honor the original intent of Secure Communities.
"Inmates, who pose no threat to the community, have limited or no criminal history and who have no pending criminal charges will be released from custody," Wowak wrote.
Paul Johnston of the Immigration Action Group, who has followed the issue closely, says Wowak's proposed policy does not go far enough to protect against what he sees as the program's overreach, and relies on unfair standards such as employment and housing status.
"It's using deportation to get rid of people who in the old days might have been called vagrants or bums or undesirables," Johnston said. "It still leaves our local law enforcement system as basically a dragnet for immigration enforcement."
Secure Communities has led to denunciations from immigrants and some elected leaders. Immigrants rights groups organized a weekend forum in Salinas to address Secure Communities, with one leading civil rights attorney calling it the biggest current threat to civil rights.
The forum was held in Monterey County to highlight what are seen as problems with the program there, with nearly 220 of the 1,200-plus deportees from that county facing serious felonies. One quarter had convictions for one or two misdemeanors.
In Santa Cruz, of the 249 people detained for deportation since Secure Communities was deployed here, just 53 faced serious felonies, according to federal statistics.
Some local Latinos want Wowak to take a stronger stand against the program, which is overseen by the Department of Homeland Security. If he did that and pledged to focus solely on violent felons, said Jorge Mendez, chair of the Latino Affairs Commission, Wowak would find strong backing.
"I think that would be a very popular move for him politically, that we prioritize the safety of our community more than this failed program," Mendez said.
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Copyright 2012 - Santa Cruz Sentinel, Calif.
