Activists confront cops’ anti-immigrant actions

By Gloria Rubac
Houston

May 28, 2009

Immigrants and their supporters have marched, rallied, picketed and even met with the mayor’s staff to express their opposition to the enforcing of immigration laws by Houston cops.

Teodoro Aguiluz, executive director of CRECEN, the Central American Resource Center, speaks out at May 20 protest. photo: Gloria Rubac

At a May 20 press conference and picket line outside of the Houston Police Officers Union, activists made it clear that immigrants were a large part of the Houston population and must be treated with respect by all city agencies.

Chanting, “What do we want? Civil rights! When do we want it? Now!” protesters filled the sidewalks outside of the cops’ union headquarters. The union president recently wrote an editorial calling on Houston Mayor Bill White to do more to enforce immigration laws.

Judicial Watch, a right-wing organization that backs stricter immigration policies, has announced it will sue the City of Houston to force it to step up efforts to combat illegal immigration.

For 17 years the City of Houston and its cops did not enforce immigration laws. That changed this year when Mayor White joined the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s “287(g) program” which allows city jailers to check criminal and immigration histories of people being booked into the two city jails.

There has been a backlash against the mayor by immigrants and their advocates against ICE’S 287(g) program, which makes Houston the only major-city police force in Texas to allow police questioning of nonsuspects about their citizenship status.

Longtime immigrant rights activist Maria Jimenez said she and other opponents of 287(g) met with the mayor’s staff to express concerns. She said she wasn’t assured that anyone facing a Class C misdemeanor, including traffic tickets, wouldn’t be included.

“It could result in immigrants being hauled off to jail on minor offenses,” Jimenez said. “What this policy would do is encourage racial profiling in which any person who looks Latino would be far more likely to be asked by cops if they are here legally.”

HPD Chief Harold Hurtt has said that while local police cooperate with federal counterparts, once a noncitizen is jailed, HPD cannot be responsible for enforcing immigration laws in Houston, which has an estimated undocumented resident population of 250,000 to a half million.

Another demonstration outside the cops’ union office is planned for May 27. For information contact Cesar Espinoza at the Central American Resource Center at 713-271-9703.