A new policy of submitting the names of gang injunction violators in Los Angeles for possible immigration enforcement is drawing protests from some community leaders who say the injunction process is flawed because it lacks an easy way out for people who mend their ways.
Councilwoman Janice Hahn and several civil rights leaders said Friday that the city attorney's new policy should be suspended until major changes are made in the way that young people are included and removed from gang injunctions.
"I'd like to see them overhaul this thing," Hahn said. "Some people who are on the list aren't gang members anymore."
Activists have been calling on the city attorney for more than a year to revise the injunction program so that it focuses only on active gang members.
"The gang injunctions are highly problematic," said Nora Preciado, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California who also supports a suspension of the new policy. "A lot of times, they label young people as gang members who are not really affiliated with a gang."
City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo said changes are coming in the program that involves 33 court injunctions limiting the activities of 50 gangs.
But in the meantime, Delgadillo said, his new policy of submitting the names of people convicted of violating gang injunctions to the U.S. attorney's office for possible immigration enforcement will include safeguards to make sure only criminals are subject to deportation.
"We know that many gang members are undocumented immigrants, and we believe it is incumbent upon us to share with federal authorities the names of those gang members convicted of gang injunction violations," Delgadillo said.
Last year, the city attorney's office won convictions against 350 people for violating city gang injunctions prohibiting them from congregating with other gang members and engaging in gang activity.
Injunctions generally prohibit identified individuals from loitering in public with other members; harassing residents and intimidating witnesses; possessing or using weapons, alcohol or illegal narcotics; disobeying gang-imposed curfews; and trespassing.
The city attorney predicts that many of those convicted will probably be deportable.
"Some of these convicted gang members have entered the country illegally," he said. "While we don't know the exact numbers, we believe the number is substantial."
