Officials’ D.C. Visit Backs INS Jail Plan

City officials are in Washington today to support proposed federal legislation that would expand nationwide Anaheim’s pilot program that identifies criminal illegal immigrants.

Anaheim’s pilot program places Immigration and Naturalization Service agents in the jail to interview all people who are arrested and taken to the city’s lockup.

Since the program is scheduled to end June 30, city officials are backing legislation that would permanently station INS agents in its jail as well as in jails in 100 counties across the nation.

Councilman Bob Zemel, a staunch supporter of the program, and Police Chief Randall Gaston are in Washington to support a bill written by Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) that will be introduced today to the House Subcommittee on Immigration. Kristine Thalman, the city’s intergovernmental relations officer, also traveled to Washington.

Gaston is expected to testify before the subcommittee today.

Anaheim officials on Monday met with members of Congress from all over the country as well as the Orange County delegation to enlist their support for the bill.

“I think Congress will make this law and take the Anaheim pilot project nationwide,” Zemel said. “This is going to change the way Americans deal with criminal alien repeat offenders.”

Zemel said that INS agents have access to federal computers and other identifying records and can place holds on prisoners in order to have enough time to identify them.

“Anaheim’s police cannot access those same resources and therefore prior to this pilot program, many illegal aliens who committed crimes were able to slip through the system,” he said.