ICE not effective enough, prof says

Of the 520 illegal immigrants eligible for deportation in Costa Mesa this year, 360 were actually kicked out of the country and 12 had been previously deported. The statistics have led some to question the effectiveness of having a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer at Costa Mesa’s jail.

Louis DeSipio, an associate professor at UCI of Chicano/Latino Studies with an expertise in immigration, believes the 520 statistic shows a lack of production by the ICE agent.

“This is a significant new investment in ICE resources to have staffing at the jail,” he said. “If I were to estimate how many I thought (ICE) would get at the beginning, I probably would have said more than 520.”

DeSipio points to the relatively high concentration of illegal immigrants in Costa Mesa as a basis for his assertion. He believes arresting 520 deportable illegal immigrants is a healthy number for the area and population — that is, if it were left only to Costa Mesa police.

DeSipio’s point is the area will naturally produce a number of potential deportable immigrants through misdemeanor and felony arrests based on regular police efforts. The ICE agent, according to DeSipio, is there to catch those with ambiguous documentation and short-term holds.

Therefore, the 520 number isn’t solely due to the work of an ICE agent, only partially. According to DeSipio, the addition of an ICE agent should have boosted what would already be strong numbers.

“There is an investment now, a human being, an ICE staff person working at the jail each day or each week, and that investment has the potential of getting the extra people,” DeSipio said. “The question to me is whether the investment is really worth it.”

Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman for the Southern California office of ICE, believes this has been a worthy partnership.

According to Kice, the arrest numbers are consistent with their expectations and have produced tangible results, like the arrest of Juan Ortega-Torres, 32, who was flagged at the Costa Mesa jail.

Torres had previously been deported three times and has prior convictions for robbery and narcotics, authorities said.

“One of our concerns, enforcement priorities, is to use all tools at our disposal to prevent criminal immigrants from posing a threat to the community,” Kice said.

City Council members and ICE officials think the program has been effective. Just as with any other effective police work, criminals are caught and attempts are made to prevent them from committing future crimes.

“Five-hundred and twenty criminal illegal immigrants and crime down 4.7% is a big success,” Councilwoman Wendy Leece said. “Do people who opposed this plan really want 520 criminals to remain in Costa Mesa?”

Attempts to contact Mayor Allan Mansoor by telephone and e-mail were unsuccessful.

James Hayes is the director of the Los Angeles Field Office of ICE. He has kept close tabs on the Costa Mesa program because of its uniqueness.

ICE is just beginning to record statistics, but in Costa Mesa the agency has started to keep records by hand. Hayes wanted to keep a watchful eye so he could assess the effectiveness of the program.

“[The agent in Costa Mesa] is a valuable use of our resources,” Hayes said. “Critics are going to say what critics are going to say. Evidence that I have seen, we are screening at 100%, very close to 100%.”

— Chris Caesar contributed to this report.

DANIEL TEDFORD may be reached at (714) 966-4632 or at [email protected].