Consider public safety in immigrants' release

Letter date: 
Saturday, May 3, 2014
Letter publisher: 
The Denver Post
Letter author: 
The Denver Post Editorial Board
Letter body: 

The decision by some Colorado sheriffs to release inmates wanted by immigration authorities may make legal sense, given recent court rulings.

But those decisions should be tempered by policies to protect the public from truly bad actors.

In recent weeks, a half-dozen Colorado county sheriffs said they would no longer hold inmates for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement if the prisoners posted bail or otherwise settled their cases.

ICE often asks local authorities to detain inmates suspected of being in the U.S. illegally. The hold lasts 48 hours (more if a holiday or weekend is involved) after they otherwise would be released.

However, recent court decisions made clear such action violates Fourth Amendment protections against detention without probable cause. The most recent was just a couple weeks ago in Oregon.

It is a valid civil liberties issue and sheriffs have sound legal reasons for not honoring the detainer requests.

But there are public safety issues to consider, too.

Some of those inmates may be truly dangerous and should be deported, but instead could be released. They could go on to commit serious crimes.

People in the Chicago area know a little about that. In 2011, Cook County commissioners passed an ordinance barring the county's sheriff from heeding ICE detainer requests.

Since then, there have been disturbing examples of authorities ignoring ICE detainers and — this is key — failing to even tell ICE they were about to release the inmates.

One case involved the killing last month of a 15-year-old girl who was shot, authorities say, by her obsessed ex-boyfriend.

Though there is a lot of blame to go around in that case, ICE clearly wanted the suspect and he should have been deported or at least put in federal custody before having the chance to commit the crime he is accused of.

The key is communication.

There should be strong cooperation between local and federal authorities so immigration officials can move quickly to detain the most dangerous individuals before they are released.

Such policies would take recent court decisions into account, but also would acknowledge the high priority of public safety.