ICE's chilling effect
January 7, 2010
abc15.com
Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu is wondering where all of his inmates went.
Babeu, the conservative lawman known for taking on speed cameras and, more recently, joining forces with Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, has watched the number of illegal immigrants in his jails drop by more than 50 percent, almost overnight.
Babeu tells KTAR.com he has a contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to hold about 600 inmates a day. Babeu has built jail facilities for the extra inmates. He's hired people. He's supposed to get 60 dollars a day per inmate.
Then 45 days ago, the number of inmates dropped from 550 to 222. Babeu wonders if it's a sign of a policy shift from the Obama administration.
That's a good question.
Just two months ago, Homeland Security Secretary (former AZ governor) Janet Napolitano told a latino group that congress would begin work on comprehensive immigration reform early this year. Among the astounding claims, Napolitano argued that a policy of "enforcement first" had already taken place, and the declining number of immigrants crossing the border in a tough economy made a "tough, but fair" path to legal status more feasible.
Uh, Ok.
While it's true, the number of border patrol agents has doubled, and the feds have built hundreds of miles of barriers, more than 400 miles of land at the border remains open. Illegal immigrants -- not to mention drugs and guns -- are still flowing. The border remains a sieve. "Enforcement first" has a long way to go.
Using an economic argument to peddle a path to legal status ignores the ten percent unemployment rate in this country. It used to be argued that illegal immigrants did jobs that legal citizens were unwilling to do. Not anymore.
Perhaps, however, the Obama administration doesn't even need a bill to change the game... which takes us back to Sheriff Babeu and his missing inmates.
ICE issued a statement earlier this week saying it was seeking more "cost-effective" ways to house illegal immigrants, but gave little indication of where the missing inmates were being housed. And wasn't the whole point of contracting with Babeu to save money and find space?
It's the kind of smokescreen that gives way to speculation about a chilling effect. While no one's suggesting the foot soldiers on the ground are easing up on enforcement, given the administration's position that it has done all it needs to do on the enforcement side, you gotta wonder.
Meantime, Sheriff Babeu says he's facing the prospect of laying off workers and losing money he's supposed to get from the feds. But that's nothing new either. Just ask State Treasurer Dean Martin, who sent the feds a billion dollar bill this week for the cost of housing illegal immigrants in state facilities.
Immigration reform may be months away in policy, but in practice, it may be already here.
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