By Susan Carroll
Houston Chronicle
HOUSTON — The Houston Police Department will train a cadre of city jailers to help detain suspected illegal immigrants through the federal government’s controversial 287(g) program, immigration officials announced today.
The announcement by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials comes nearly four months after Mayor Bill White requested that federal officials expedite training for city jailers. White made the request within days of the March 5 shooting of Houston Police Officer Rick Salter, who was critically injured by an illegal immigrant with a criminal record. Salter is still recovering from his injuries.
The news was praised by Houston Police Union members, but met with dismay by immigrant advocates, who held a series of protests and candlelight vigils since March to protest the city’s planned participation.
Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt previously estimated that joining the jail program will require the assignment of 22 police officers to receive the federal training and cost an estimated $1.5 million to $2 million a year to operate. The chief also said the department pledged years ago it would not allow officers to question residents at random about their immigration status.
Cesar Espinosa, a Houston immigrant advocate who has helped organize protests against the city’s planned participation in the program, said today he was saddened by the news that it had been approved.
“From the beginning we have said that this is not about enforcing immigration law — it’s about community safety,” he said. “If people start associating the Houston Police Department with immigration, people are going to be more afraid to come forward both as victims and as witnesses of crimes.”
Gary Blankinship, president of the Houston Police Officers’ Union, said he was encouraged that city jailers will receive training through the program, which trains local law enforcement to assist ICE in detaining suspected illegal immigrants.
“I think it’s a step in the right direction,” he said. “I think it’s a small step.”
HPD was one of 11 agencies approved for the 287g program today. So far, ICE has trained more than 1,000 officers operating under 66 local agreements. Since January 2006, the specially trained officers are credited with identifying more than 120,000 suspected illegal immigrants — predominantly in the nation’s jails — who are suspected of being in the country illegally.
Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle