Police Split on Plan for Migrant Checks

The Costa Mesa Police Department and Orange County Sheriff's Department are developing plans for their officers to be trained alongside federal immigration agents so they can understand and help enforce immigration laws.

They are among the first in the nation to seek the training, and their effort has generated both interest from other agencies and protests from immigrants' rights groups.

"Dozens of jurisdictions have reached out to us and asked us for copies of this policy," said Jon Fleischman, a spokesman for the Sheriff's Department. "Like with any instrument that provides a resource to find criminals, departments are looking at this to see if this will help fight crime."

But in Los Angeles, the county's two top cops -- Sheriff Lee Baca and police Chief William J. Bratton -- have come out solidly against such steps, saying it would damage hard-earned efforts to build trust in immigrant communities.

They argue that local police are busy enough dealing with crime and that immigration enforcement should be left to the federal government.

"The Orange County talk is cheap," Baca said. "I want to see how arresting a young 18-year-old girl trying to get a job goes down when robbery and burglary calls for service aren't being responded to. The public will say, 'We've had enough of this.' Let the federal government do its job."

The two Orange County agencies say they would not conduct sweeps but only check the status of suspects they stop.

For nearly three decades, the LAPD has enforced a strict policy prohibiting officers from stopping or questioning someone solely based on their immigration status. The policy, known as Special Order 40 and approved by then-Chief Daryl Gates, was part of an effort to improve relations between officers and illegal immigrants, who officials say were often afraid to report crimes or cooperate as witnesses.

"It's not a matter of politics. It's a matter of practical policing," said LAPD Assistant Chief George Gascon. "If an undocumented woman is raped and doesn't report it, the suspect who raped that woman, remember, could be the suspect who rapes someone else's sister, mother or wife later."