Focus on crimes by and against illegal immigrants
Strike force takes shape / Focus on crimes by and against illegal immigrants
By Jesse Fruhwirth
Standard-Examiner Davis Bureau
jfruhwirth@standard.net
SALT LAKE CITY — A new strike force, created by a bill sponsored by an Ogden lawmaker, will be tasked with investigating and prosecuting only felony crimes committed by or against illegal immigrants.
The strike force will target drugs and weapons trafficking, human trafficking and distribution of fraudulent documents, like fake identifications, as well as other crimes related to illegal immigration, officials said.
During the 2009 session of the Utah Legislature, Rep. Brad Dee, R-Ogden, sponsored House Bill 64, which created the task force.
Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, whose office will coordinate the strike force, said it will be necessary to gain the trust of the illegal immigrant communities for the force to serve its mission effectively. He said the victims of crimes committed by illegal immigrants often are other illegal immigrants.
“Once they’re victimized, we have to have them willing to come forward to provide evidence and testimony (and) trust us to protect them as well as all members of the community here in the state of Utah,” Shurtleff said.
Other lawmakers and law enforcers at Wednesday’s news conference at the state Capitol promised repeatedly that the strike force will not act as an immigration enforcement unit nor deport people for minor violations.
“There are concerns that if you get stopped for a traffic citation or violation that this strike force will go after you. That is not the case, and that’s why we felt comfortable supporting this law,” said National Republican Hispanic Assembly Member Marco Diaz.
“As it states in this law, this goes after major felony crime. That is it.”
Dee said his “biggest concern” is that otherwise law-abiding residents who may be in the country illegally will be fearful of cooperating with strike force investigations, especially because other recent bills have raised anxiety levels in those communities.
A different bill, SB81, authorizes some local law enforcement officers to investigate some immigration violations.
Dee said he hopes residents and law enforcement officers know the difference between the bills and their resulting programs. He said he will ensure the strike force sticks to its “narrowly crafted” mission.
Strike force officers will be required to report to the Legislature yearly.
“When we have that information coming back to the Legislature, I as the sponsor will consider it my personal obligation to make sure that this remains exactly where we wrote it. It will remain in felony crime,” Dee said.
“Anything above and beyond that, we’ll reach out and bring it back very, very quick.”
Shurtleff said asking a potential witness about his or her immigration status will not be “a legitimate question our officers are going to ask somebody.”
Dee said the idea for the strike force resulted from a compromise of ideas between those who are very concerned with illegal immigration and the illegal immigrant communities themselves.
“The thing that concerned (both groups) most was crime, either crime committed upon or by illegal immigrants in the state of Utah,” he said.
Dee gathered those opinions as co-chairman of an immigration task force created a year ago.
The Utah attorney general’s chief of law enforcement, Ken Wallentine, will head the strike force. He said it’s possible the strike force will be accused of coddling illegal immigrants because it will not enforce immigration laws themselves, but added the strike force is only authorized to enforce state laws.
“We might get some criticism if people think we’re protecting folks that are here unlawfully,” Wallentine said.
“But I took an oath as a prosecutor to uphold, defend and sustain the Constitution. ... I took that pretty seriously. I don’t remember a footnote that said ‘as long as the victims of the crimes are descendents of the Mayflower Compact.’ ”
Shurtleff said he’s unaware of any other nonborder state with a similar strike force.
The force was created with $891,000 in federal stimulus money and has no funding source already established that will take over after 2010, when that money runs out.
Consisting currently of six full-time investigators, a dedicated prosecutor soon to be hired and other part-time workers, the strike force will work in partnership with state and federal law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
An ICE program tasked with a similar mission — apprehending illegal immigrants who are also criminal fugitives — was found to have diverted significantly from its mission. According to a February report by the Migration Policy Institute, 73 percent of the 97,000 people apprehended by the National Fugitive Operations Program between 2003 and 2008 had no criminal record.
