Rogers officials, Mexican consul to discuss immigration enforcement
Posted on Thursday, August 30, 2007
ROGERS — Mayor Steve Womack plans to meet next week with Mexican Consul Andres Chao and Police Chief Steve Helms to discuss the city’s immigration enforcement policies.
The three will meet at 2 p. m. Sept. 7 as long as the LPGA Northwest Arkansas Championship, which will be held at the Pinnacle Country Club, doesn’t cause a scheduling conflict, Womack said Tuesday.
Womack said he’d be glad to share his personal views with Chao, but he had no intention of “ watering down” the city’s efforts, which have gathered both praise and concern from Northwest Arkansas residents.
At a Monday meeting of the Arkansas Committee on Foreign Relations, Chao criticized Northwest Arkansas law enforcement organizations for their involvement in 287 (g ) training, the designation for a federal program that allows local officers to enforce federal immigration policies.
Earlier this month, the Rogers and Springdale police departments and the Benton and Washington County sheriff’s offices sent 19 people to Boston to train in the program.
Opponents of the program claim it could lead to racial profiling of Hispanic residents, a fear Chao echoed to reporters after the Monday meeting.
Chao, who represents Mexican residents of Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Tennessee, targeted extra criticism toward Womack for being unwilling to meet with him to discuss his concerns about the program when he was in Northwest Arkansas for a mobile consulate next week.
Womack said Tuesday that he would make every effort to attend and his conflict with the initial meeting related to a schedule packed with LPGA events.
“ I think the biggest sporting event in the history of our town deserves some standing, ” he said.
While six Rogers officers were training in Boston, Womack remained strong in his convictions toward the program. He even is considering sending the officers to a Texas border town for additional training not required by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement to experience “ things they might not see in Boston. ”
Womack and other locallevel leaders trumpeting immigration enforcement were encouraged by the efforts of Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt. Earlier this week, Blunt announced a series of statewide initiatives aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration. Missouri now will perform random checks on construction workers at building projects that are funded by state subsidies. Blunt will also seek 287 (g ) training for all Missouri State Police, the seventh state to do so, and encourage all local police departments to seek the training.
Despite a growing use, the program still faces opposition from groups that fear the long-term implications for a growing Hispanic population. Rogers faces additional scrutiny because of its stricter application of the program.
While other Northwest Arkansas organizations will operate under a detention model, Rogers will use a field model, checking immigration status of people pulled over for traffic violations.
Womack said racial-profiling fears are unrealistic. The program will be carefully monitored, he said.
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