Immigration Laws

Costa Mesa mayor wants city's police to be trained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to apply federal rules.Costa Mesa could become the first city to ask its police officers to enforce federal immigration laws if the City Council agrees to a proposal Mayor Allan Mansoor will make Tuesday. A 1996 law allows state and local jurisdictions to enforce federal immigration laws. Under Mansoor's plan, Costa Mesa police would be trained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to enforce immigration laws in the course of their normal duties.

Border security proposals announced by U.S. House Republican leaders Thursday are not everything Newport Beach Rep. John Campbell wanted, but he thinks they will make a substantial difference in combating illegal immigration. Republican leaders announced their "Border Security Now" agenda in place of a more comprehensive immigration-reform bill. The agenda consists of 10 border-security proposals that House Republicans want to pass before the end of the month. "If we can get this through the Senate and signed by the president, it will make a dramatic difference in the illegal alien problem," Campbell said Thursday.

Some say enforcing immigration law is vital; former police chief says proposal could ruin cops' rapport with city's Latinos.The Costa Mesa City Council will likely face a deeply divided audience when it meets Tuesday to discuss empowering city police officers to enforce immigration laws. Mayor Allan Mansoor has proposed that Costa Mesa police be trained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to uphold immigration laws while carrying out their regular duties. A 1996 federal law allows local law enforcement, after training from U.S. immigration officials, to detain people suspected of violating immigration law. Police officers would not seek out immigration violators, but if they encountered someone without proper documents while investigating a crime, the suspect could be turned over to immigration officials, said Mansoor, who works as an Orange County Sheriff's Department deputy.

P resident Obama recently invited Felipe Calderon, Mexico's president, to address a joint session of our Congress. During this speech he lambasted Arizona's recently enacted anti-illegal immigration law as being racist and unfair. I don't know about you, but this is the first time in my memory that another country's leader had the temerity to trash one of our states in public, and the first time the majority Democrats in Congress gave somebody a standing "O" for doing so. Figuring that Señor Calderon wouldn't have the guts to complain about our immigration laws unless Mexico's were above reproach, I did a little research on the subject.

Despite community members' pleas against Mayor Allan Mansoor's resolution to take a stance against illegal immigration, the City Council voted unanimously Tuesday in its favor. Councilwoman Katrina Foley was absent. "Immigrants are part of America," Silvia Hernandez said. "We work, pay taxes, go to church, and participate in our communities. We need a solution that brings people out of the shadows." The resolution declaring Costa Mesa a "Rule of Law City" follows an April news conference in which Mansoor called for stricter regulations to catch illegal immigrants living, working and driving in the city, and his promise to ask for the council's support.

*Corrected: An earlier version of the piece misspelled the writer's name. As a veteran, the security of our country is of great concern to me. I served in the United States Army in Iraq, and I understand the sacrifice that is needed to protect this great nation. That's why I believe security starts with effective protection of our borders. We must be prepared for threats from all directions in a post-9/11 world. Illegal immigration is a serious challenge for our country.

Civil disobedience has a long, rich history in the United States. Henry David Thoreau, author of "Walden" and "Civil Disobedience," famously protested America's war against Mexico. In "Civil Disobedience," he wrote: "The authority of government, even such as I am willing to submit to ? for I will cheerfully obey those who know and can do better than I, and in many things even those who neither know nor can do so well ? is still an impure one: To be strictly just, it must have the sanction and consent of the governed."

President Bush's latest immigration reform plan could include special work visas for undocumented immigrants and let them apply for citizenship after returning home and paying a fine. Can you foresee Congress approving a proposal similar to the president's plan, and do you support any proposal that would allow those here illegally to establish legal residency in the U.S.? These proposals miss the point. We teach our kids not to cut in line, but we are saying it's OK here.

*Corrected: An earlier version of the piece misspelled the writer's name. As a veteran, the security of our country is of great concern to me. I served in the United States Army in Iraq, and I understand the sacrifice that is needed to protect this great nation. That's why I believe security starts with effective protection of our borders. We must be prepared for threats from all directions in a post-9/11 world. Illegal immigration is a serious challenge for our country.

In some respects, it had been a normal day, with the normal interruptions of neighbors stopping by and staff popping in with questions. What stood out to me about the day was that each interruption, the answer to each question asked, the solution to each problem, was blocked by our broken immigration system. It felt like we couldn't get anything done without fixing immigration first. Ricardo came by to type up a letter for the school district to prove his income so his kids could get bus passes.

P resident Obama recently invited Felipe Calderon, Mexico's president, to address a joint session of our Congress. During this speech he lambasted Arizona's recently enacted anti-illegal immigration law as being racist and unfair. I don't know about you, but this is the first time in my memory that another country's leader had the temerity to trash one of our states in public, and the first time the majority Democrats in Congress gave somebody a standing "O" for doing so. Figuring that Señor Calderon wouldn't have the guts to complain about our immigration laws unless Mexico's were above reproach, I did a little research on the subject.

Surrounded by police, and standing in front of Santa Ana's processing center for people who have recently been arrested, about 100 people on Thursday protested Arizona's recent immigration law and Costa Mesa's resolution declaring itself a "Rule of Law" city. The group, which was not affiliated with any official organization, chanted against the Arizona law that requires police to check the papers of anyone they suspect may be in the county illegally and Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor's push to have police and local businesses increase immigration checks.

Despite community members' pleas against Mayor Allan Mansoor's resolution to take a stance against illegal immigration, the City Council voted unanimously Tuesday in its favor. Councilwoman Katrina Foley was absent. "Immigrants are part of America," Silvia Hernandez said. "We work, pay taxes, go to church, and participate in our communities. We need a solution that brings people out of the shadows." The resolution declaring Costa Mesa a "Rule of Law City" follows an April news conference in which Mansoor called for stricter regulations to catch illegal immigrants living, working and driving in the city, and his promise to ask for the council's support.

Costa Mesa Mayor Allan Mansoor?s call last week to find stricter ways to crack down on illegal immigrants in the city may be too limited in the eyes of the law, one of the nation?s top constitutional lawyers said Friday. Before enforcing any laws, they would have to be within Costa Mesa?s purview. ?Generally, cities and states can?t enforce federal immigration laws,? said Erwin Chemerinsky, founding dean of the UC Irvine School of Law. ?Only federal law can do that, and Arizona will test that.

Assemblyman Chuck DeVore is being termed out of his 70th Assembly District seat and running for the U.S. Senate, and there is a crowded field of candidates vying to replace him. They are four Republicans, two Democrats and a Libertarian. Among them are three well-known, well-connected public officials and a two-time Democratic challenger to DeVore. The 70th District, which has been reliably Republican, includes most of Newport Beach, as well as all of Irvine, Foothill Ranch, Laguna Beach, Laguna Woods and Lake Forest, and parts of Aliso Viejo and Tustin.

Publicly, former Costa Mesa police Chief John Hensley expressed concern with what enforcing immigration laws would do to his department resources. Privately, he told city leaders he opposed the idea altogether, but city officials did not heed his warnings, sworn depositions made public this week reveal. In October 2005, Hensley met with Mayor Eric Bever and then-Mayor Allan Mansoor regarding their plan to have Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials deputize Costa Mesa police officers, according to Hensley’s testimony.

The policies of Costa Mesa which strive to enforce immigration laws during routine police work within the city have been somewhat controversial. They shouldn't be. Regardless of your position on the future of legal immigration in this country, state and local police will need to aid in enforcing these laws if they are ever going to have any meaning. It doesn't matter if you think there should be a huge guest worker program or no guest worker program. It also doesn't matter if you think the illegal immigrants here now should have amnesty or be forced to return to their country of origin.