There have been congressional hearings on the program, and the Government Accountability Office issued a report this year concluding that immigration authorities failed to oversee the program or track its effectiveness. The report also cited inconsistency among the agencies, with some focusing on serious crimes and others on minor crimes.
A Police Foundation report this year said that the costs of 287(g) outweighed the benefits and that police should be prohibited from arresting and detaining people solely to investigate their immigration status. The report said the program hurt public safety because illegal immigrants were afraid to report crimes for fear of being deported.
Foundation President Hubert Williams said Friday that he agreed with the emphasis on serious crimes but that he would be watching closely to see whether the federal government increased its oversight of the program.
"I think Homeland Security is going in the right direction," Williams said. "We feel that the 287(g), if properly directed, could be a useful tool. What we did not want was police officers going around and checking green cards."
But William Gheen, president of Americans for Legal Immigration, said the government shouldn't limit the powers of police.
"To see them backtrack and water down 287(g) shows they are not serious about immigration enforcement," he said.
Immigrant rights groups said they were surprised that Napolitano did not make more significant changes to the program.
"What Napolitano is saying by this expansion is that she is going to subordinate the goals of keeping communities safe in favor of response to anti-immigrant hysteria," said Chris Newman of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network in Los Angeles.
--
anna.gorman@latimes.com
