Saturday, March 11, 2006
COSTA MESA MAYOR ALLAN MANSOOR'S ICE PROPOSAL
MELTS AWAY UNDER SCRUTINY
Police Chief says the scheme probably won't stop crime
or "illegal immigration"
By DUANE J. ROBERTS
duaneroberts92804@yahoo.com COSTA MESA, CA -- H.L. Mencken once wrote that "the
whole aim of practical politics is to keep the
populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to
safety) by menacing it with an endless series of
hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." If he were alive
today, Mencken would discover to his amusement that
this truism is still being put into practice by
opportunistic politicians who run the City of Costa
Mesa.
During the past several months, Mayor Allan Mansoor, a
Minuteman supporter, has been thumping his chest and
proclaiming to the whole world that his proposal to
allow city police to enforce federal immigration law
will protect the citizenry from crime. Mansoor argues
such a program is needed in his hometown because
"illegal aliens" are coming by the droves to rape,
rob, assault, and kill everyone they can lay their
hands on.
Up until now, nobody holding the reigns of power at
Costa Mesa City Hall has bothered to mount a serious
challenge to any of the unfounded claims that Mansoor
has repeatedly been making in remarks to reporters
from newspapers, magazines, radio and television
stations from all over the United States.
But at last Tuesday's meeting of the Costa Mesa City
Council, that changed. Police Chief John Hensley, the
city's top cop, offered testimony which contradicted
many of the things that Mansoor has been saying about
the ICE proposal. Under tough questioning, Hensley not
only admitted that the Mayor's scheme wouldn't have
any impact upon "illegal immigration," but said there
aren't enough "facts" to suggest it will do anything
to fight crime.
For about thirty minutes, Councilwomen Linda Dixon and
Katrina Foley peppered Hensley with a series
questions that appeared to have been asked for the
purpose of learning just exactly what benefit the
community would derive from establishing a partnership
between the Bureau of Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) and the city police department. The
lawman's responses to them were pretty revealing.
Dixon started off the first round of questioning by
asking Hensley how many "serious crimes" are committed
in Costa Mesa each year? About 4,000, he replied; of
that amount, less than 150 of them met the "aggravated
felony" critera that would be covered under the ICE
proposal. When Dixon asked how many of the latter
number were committed by "illegal aliens," the lawman
said he didn't really know since no data had been
compiled.
Then Dixon inquired about the cost of the ICE
proposal. At first, Hensley said a one time cost of
about $200,000 would be needed to train thirty
officers within his department to perform the task of
enforcing federal immigration law. But City Manager
Allan Roeder quickly interjected, saying those were
just training expenses; the estimate doesn't take into
account wages, liability issues, and potential legal
costs. (In later testimony, Hensley admitted training
expenses could end up becoming a yearly thing as
officers rotated between different assignments)
Hensley was then asked by Dixon if the ICE proposal
guarantees that "illegal aliens" who have been
deported back to their country of origin won't return
to the community:
DIXON: Does the ICE program
ensure that those that are
deported wouldn't
re-enter the country
through the porous borders
which the federal
government for its own
reasons appears unwilling
to control?
HENSLEY: No.
Dixon quizzed the lawman about existing procedures and
the tasks his officers would have to perform to get an
"immigration hold" placed on an arrestee.
"So how much time will be taken away from our officers
protecting Costa Mesa residents to do the federal
government's job?" Dixon asked the Chief.
"A police officer," said Hensley, "would be removed
from their normal and typical duties" for "half a
shift" doing paperwork and other chores for ICE.
When Dixon asked if partnering with ICE changed any
other policies, Hensley responded that all it really
does is give Costa Mesa more "local control."
"So then," said Dixon, "there isn't a whole lot more
that ICE will provide us with except taking our
officers off the streets protecting Costa Mesa
residents?"
At first, Hensley was reluctant to answer this
question. But after a couple of remarks, he stated the
ICE proposal will only give them more power to
"process" arrestees:
HENSLEY: You will know when
we transport somebody
to county jail that may
be in the country in
violation of immigration
laws, you will know
they have been processed.
You won't have to wonder
what happens to them
when they get to county.
In other words, the ICE proposal won't stop crime or
ensure that an undocumented worker who committed an
"aggravated felony" will eventually face deportation.
It just guarantees that an arrestee's naturalization
status will be "screened" before they are brought to
the Orange County jail. {1}
After Dixon finished, Foley stepped up to the plate.
Although the questions she posed to the lawman were
more direct than anything her colleague had asked of
him, they weren't much different.
Foley started off the second round by asking Hensley
point blank if he himself was opposed to the ICE
proposal and knew of anybody else in law enforcement
who supported it:
FOLEY: Chief Hensley, I
think we all know up
here that when you were
consulted about this
program, you did not
support having local
law enforcement
participating in this
program. Isn't that
correct?
HENSLEY: That is true.
FOLEY: And are you aware
of any Chief of Police
in the County of Orange
that supports participation
in such a program?
HENSLEY: I am not.
FOLEY: How about any
Police Chief in the United
States?
HENSLEY: Well, I know
there is at least one,
because I got an email from
him. So ... uh.
FOLEY: Is that the only
one you are aware of?
After the laughter subsided, Foley then asked Hensley
if he felt that ICE training would be a useful tool in
helping any of his police officers protect the
community from crime:
FOLEY: As far as your
professional expertise is
concerned, do you think
that this ICE training
will actually help our
officers prevent crime?
HENSLEY: I plead the
fifth. Your honor, you know
what, I don't have any
facts, and that's what my
business is about....
Later on, Foley quizzed the lawman about "local
control." Did the Costa Mesa have any "control"
over arrestees they had placed an "immigration hold"
on after they were no longer in the custody of the
city police?
FOLEY: Is there any
reason for us to believe
that we actually have
control over a suspect
who has booked in the
county jail, and processed
for trial, potentially
convicted, done their jail
time, and then do we have
any local control over
whether or not that person
is actually deported at
that point after they've served
their time?
HENSLEY: No, we don't.
Foley continued questioning Hensley along these lines
for a couple of minutes longer. After she finished,
the podium was then turned back to Mansoor, who
appeared quite nervous.
Although the Mayor did take a moment to ask Hensley
two brief questions, his colleagues, Councilmen Eric
Bever and Gary Monahan, basically sat quietly in their
seats. They said nothing.
It's clear the testimony had it's toll on Mansoor.
When Foley was openly critical of one of his remarks,
he tried to cut her off in much the same way he did to
Coyotl Tezcatlipoca on January 3rd.
"Mr. Mayor," she responded strongly, "I respectfully
ask that you allow me to finish my comments. This is a
pattern that you have of interrupting people and
preventing them from finishing their statements."
The audience clapped and cheered wildly.
It's clear that the questions that both Councilwomen
asked the city's top cop were devasting to Mansoor;
they revealed a number of facts which pretty much
knocked the wind out his sails.
Although it's premature to say what impact any of
these revelations will have upon Mansoor's standing in
the public eye, it is becoming obvious that Costa Mesa
residents have become the victims of a hoax.
NOTES:
{1} It should be noted ICE officers already check the
natualization status of everybody that is brought to
the Orange County jail, making Costa Mesa's proposal
an unnecessary duplication of ongoing, existing
efforts.
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To see Police Chief John Hensley's testimony before
the Costa Mesa City Council and the confrontation
between Councilwoman Foley and Mayor Mansoor, please
go to the following link:
http://costamesa.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=4
Then click on the "View Video" feature for Tuesday,
March 7, 2006. Jump to "Reading Folder."