Report Faults Training of Local Officers in Immigration Enforcement Program

by Julia Preston

"The report found that the performance records of local officers were not thoroughly examined before they were allowed to join the program. Without adequate background checks, the report says, the program exposes Department of Homeland Security intelligence systems to “inappropriate or unauthorized access.”

Some officers received only cursory training in immigration law, the report found.

“One officer commented that after basic training, he came away with zero knowledge of how to process a case,” the report says. Inspectors found that local officers in the program were “not knowledgeable about the asylum process” and other basic tenets of immigration codes.

The report cites the case of an immigrant who had committed no offense but was the victim of a traffic accident. The immigrant was detained by the local police in a county jail until federal agents arrived to check the person’s legal status.

The protection of immigrants’ civil rights was “not formally included” in the training of local officers, the report found, nor was it taken into account in their performance reviews."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/03/us/03immig.html

[Posted by Yoori Chung]