The Trump administration has made much of its wide immigration enforcement priorities. Every migrant who comes across the criminal justice system has reason to worry about being placed into the immigration detention and deportation pipeline. While this risk always existed under President Obama, the last ten months have seen many elected officials prominently announce their intent to defy the Trump administration by proactively helping migrants steer clear of ICE’s broad gaze.
Even in nominally migrant-friendly communities, a palpable risk remains that mundane encounters with the criminal justice system will lead to the removal. A recent change in probation practices in Denver illustrates the many heads of state-federal crimmigration law entanglement. In a little-noticed announcement last month, the Denver probation office of the state court system released a detailed plan to coordinate with ICE. Under the new policy directive, the Denver Adult Probation Department (DAPD) “will cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to determine a probationer’s residency status in the United States.” The policy statement then explains that DAPD probation officers will utilize information gathered for the pre-sentence investigation report to flag for ICE all potential migrants. If ICE inquires first, probation officers will “make all efforts to respond…in a timely manner.”
Should ICE decide it wants to arrest a person on probation, probation officers are given a twelve-point process to follow to get the probationer into ICE’s custody with minimal attention. In what seems like an attempt to hide ICE’s presence from others, probation officers are required to “escort agents to the conference room out of the view of other clients” then “escort ICE Agents and probationer to the stairwell” for an easy exit.
The DAPD is certainly entitled to go out of its way to help ICE perform its immigration law enforcement activities. But doing so isn’t without a cost. As an alternative to incarceration, probation under this policy can become a fast-track to immigration imprisonment and deportation. Under the guise of “client accountability,” the DAPD’s decision to help ICE detain and deport migrants subverts a judge’s sentencing decision. Will judges be informed that the DAPD officers will actively make it impossible for people granted probation to satisfy the requirements of their probation and complete their probationary terms because they’ve been thrown back in prison, only this time by ICE?
For advocates, this policy development is a reminder that ICE’s tentacles reach deep into the criminal justice system. Even in a comfortably Democratic city where activists have had some recent success pushing city leaders to take pro-migrant positions, including appropriating $200,000 in public funds for an immigrant defense fund, receiving a moderately favorable outcome in the criminal justice system can lead to a life-altering immigration problem. Any entanglement with police or the courts can lead into the immigration detention and deportation pipeline. If the goal is to reduce the likelihood that someone ends up in ICE’s hands, advocates need to take seriously the goal of reducing the size of the criminal justice system.
Dear Sir, I don’t understand why advocates for illegal immigrants, such as yourself, misuse the label (legal) (im)migrants. I was an immigrant, in fact, a refugee, and came through the legal channels. I did not go over borders illegally, nor did I ever overstay a visa. I learned to speak and write fluent English, and shortly having immigrated over, became a naturalized citizen. What I don’t understand, is why the vast majority of those you defend, refuse to go through the legal route, and of course, learn English. What I also don’t understand, is why do these illegal immigrants impose themselves onto the United States, when there are other perfectly normal and perhaps more culturally aligned countries that they can go to, such as Chile, especially if they are unwilling or unable to learn English.
I want to be very clear – I am very pro-migrant. But the full term should be pro-LEGAL immigration. If you break the law, you are a criminal, and as such, should be treated as one. Please be respectful and honest with your blog, in such that you a defender of illegal immigrants. Legal (im)migrants have no reason to fear from ICE.
Dear Sir, You say you were an immigrant, that you came thru the proper channels? A refugee? Can you elaborate on that, “you were a Imigrant who came as a refugee? How did you become a citizen more importantly, how many years ago was this? Because times have changed drastically and you speak as though it was quite the ” walk in the park” for you. So maybe you can help others learn the way of the legal process as you did with absolutely no funds to pay for legal naturalization? Because if it were just a simple “walk in the park for you” could it be that smooth for any one person trying to escape the horror that presents itself daily in that place right accross our American border? Please do tell how simple it is to immigrate legally to this fine United State of ours. Because I’ll bet that if that were the case we would have? Problem solved! So bottom line if you have some tricks up your sleeve to relieve all of this mess then please spread the word. Or just keep your thoughts to yourself.
Although I mostly agree with Patrick, as that I my self was a LEGAL immigrant from Canada in 1995 when I was 4 years old. I grew up in the US, joined the US Army, received my naturalization for my service, only to be indicted by the federal government in August this year for ‘Unlawful Procurement of Citizenship’ due to allegedly falsly answering ‘NO’ on question ‘Have you ever committed an offense or crime for which you have NOT been arrested for’. At that time the answer was blatantly NO. Later on I received a conviction and was honorably discharged from the US Army, non-violent offense. The US gov, thanks to the ‘denaturalization task force’ set up by Sessions in the White House (however the law itself existed since 2008 but was never enforced) is trying to strip my naturalization away and deport me… It is unbelievable… I came to this country legally, I went through the process legally, I served my country with honor only to be stabbed in the back. YES I made mistakes in my life, Yes I have paid my debt to society and have moved on, only to later be slapped in the face AGAIN and be exiled from this great country.