Guest Column
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
March 11, 2006
COSTA MESA, CA -. 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"
criteria 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.
<LAUGHTER FROM THE AUDIENCE>
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 naturalization status
of everybody that is brought to the Orange County jail, making Costa Mesa's
proposal an unnecessary duplication of ongoing, existing efforts.
___________________________________________________________
Contact Duane Roberts at:
duaneroberts92804@yahoo.com
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."
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