Pubdate: Thu, 08 Nov 2007 Source: Arizona Daily Star (Tucson, AZ) Copyright: 2007 Arizona Daily Star Contact: http://www.azstarnet.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/23 TPD WAS WRONG TO INVOLVE BORDER PATROL Our view: When The Community Is Afraid To Ask Police For Help, We All Suffer The Tucson Police Department undermined its credibility last week by getting immigration authorities involved in a minor drug-possession incident at Catalina High Magnet School. The incident led to the deportation of a 17-year-old boy, his 12-year-old brother and their parents, who were all illegal immigrants, the Star's Brady McCombs reported Tuesday. We don't condone the teen's alleged transgression aE" the student had a small amount of marijuana in his backpack, said a Tucson Unified School District official - nor the fact that the family was in the country illegally. Also, the immigration officials who went to the school were only doing their jobs by enforcing immigration laws. The incident is regrettable because we fear it will create mistrust of the Police Department in the immigrant community and could hinder crime-fighting efforts in our city. The good to come out of the affair is that on Tuesday, following a protest march by dozens of Catalina High students, the Police Department and TUSD came up with a new policy in which police will no longer summon Border Patrol agents or immigration authorities to school grounds. However, the damage may already have been done. We have stated on this page previously that it is unwise for police to enforce immigration laws. First and foremost, illegal immigration is a federal issue that is best left to federal authorities. Police departments don't have the resources to effectively become de facto border agents and already have enough responsibilities trying to keep the community safe. Just as important, we believe that to be effective, Tucson's police need to be able to cooperate with the entire community. Episodes like the one at Catalina High could make one segment of the population very suspicious of police - if it wasn't already. Illegal immigrants who are witnesses to illegal activities or victims of crime may decline to seek help from police. They may also go out of their way to avoid coming into contact with officers under any circumstances for fear of being shipped out of the country. The distrust could lead to more crimes because outlaws who might otherwise be caught with the community's cooperation could remain on the street. That's bad news for everyone - illegal immigrants, legal residents and U.S. citizens. Illegal immigrants might also become bigger targets for crime if perpetrators begin to assume their victims will be less likely to seek help from authorities. The first ripples of distrust were seen Tuesday when about 100 Catalina High students marched to the federal building and police headquarters Downtown to protest the deportation of the teen and his family. "Some students aren't going to school because they don't feel safe. We can't have this at schools," student Lizeth Grijalva, 17, said in a Star story Wednesday. Student Mario Portillo, 16, told the Star, "I still think the Police Department shouldn't be allowed to ask someone about their citizenship. That's not their job. Their job is to keep us safe and ensure our rights." Roberto VillaseA1or, Tucson's assistant police chief, said in Tuesday's Star that the department isn't interested in its officers becoming immigration agents. However, by getting immigration agents involved in routine police matters, that's exactly what they become. In the eyes of some Tucsonans, the Police Department is less trustworthy today than it was last week. The promise to not call immigration agents to school might lessen some fears, but it may already be too late. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek