Enforcement fueling immigrant exodus
Enforcement fueling immigrant exodus

TULSA — Nowhere in the state has the immigration battlefield been more bloodied than in Tulsa. And nowhere has the exodus of Hispanic immigrants been more pronounced. Those on both sides of the argument say enforcement has been fueling the fire.

The Tulsa County sheriff's office is the only law enforcement agency in the state to have officers trained to enforce federal immigration laws. It has detained and helped to deport more than 1,000 illegal immigrants since July.

The Greater Tulsa Hispanic Chamber of Commerce estimates that between 15,000 and 25,000 Hispanic immigrants have left the city in the last few months. Hispanic religious leaders there say they have seen their congregations reduced roughly by half.

"Some people think it's a federal issue, but so is robbing a bank. You just don't ignore it when you see it happening, if you are law enforcement,” said Tulsa County Sheriff Stanley Glanz, who has 30 officers dually trained in enforcing federal immigration law. Since July, when training was completed, his department has been delivering an average of 85 illegal immigrants per month to the Department of Homeland Security for deportation.

Arrests made by Tulsa County Sheriff's deputies have resulted in a decline in the jail population of about seven percent, or 100 inmates. Glanz says federal immigration law gives him an additional tool to get undesirables off the street.

"We are identifying and removing what we call frequent flyers, people we consider major criminals,” Glanz said, adding that he has been surprised by hesitation from other law enforcement agencies.

"I don't think they understand the implications on the community of having a strong underbelly of illegal aliens. They end up working a lot of domestic violence cases, a lot of drug cases and shootings they wouldn't have to if they would just enforce immigration laws,” Glanz said. "When you have a bunch of illegals in a community, it spawns other types of criminal activity; it helps create an environment where that criminality can exist.”

One recent driving under the influence stop got Enrique Martinez-Mejia, a convicted sex offender from California, off the street. Mejia was originally booked under the name Salvador Sanchez-Espinoza, because he presented deputies with fraudulent documents to that effect. Mejia had tattooed dates for 10 of the last 14 years of his life, spent in prison in Chino, Calif. He has been deported from the United States, Glanz said.

Another recent arrest was of two alleged rapists in Tulsa, Glanz said. Deputies say Pedro and Rosalio Morin were using an 11-year-old girl as a sex slave. The young girl and her mother also were illegal immigrants.

The sheriff's department is working to help them get legal status to remain in this country, at least for the duration of the legal proceeding against the girl's assailants.

Three years ago, Tulsa Sheriff's deputies uncovered an alleged human trafficking operation during a traffic stop.

There were two people sitting in the front of the van and 15 illegal immigrants — including two young girls — crammed in the back. The van was en route to Chicago. When the deputies contacted immigration authorities, they were told to let them go, Glanz said.

"Those two girls probably ended up in prostitution, and there's no telling how much money those two drivers made in trafficking human beings into this country,” Glanz said. "That's why I started trying to get this program together.”

Hispanic advocates have criticized Glanz's department for causing widespread panic and say his actions are tantamount to racial profiling.

Cynthia Hess, an adjunct immigration law professor at Tulsa University, pointed to one man who was detained by the sheriff's department for weeks. It was later discovered he had a green card. She says unless the department is making the same inquiries of everyone it stops, she does not understand how they can justify policing strategies.

"There's no question that it is racial profiling,” Hess said.

Hess also said there is no doubt that House Bill 1804 violates the U.S. constitution. The new state law, which took effect Nov. 1, prevents illegal immigrants from getting a driver's license or public services. It also criminalizes transporting, sheltering or concealing illegal immigrants from detection.

The only reason the lawsuit against the bill was dismissed was because it focused on illegal immigrants as defendants, Hess said. Ultimately, they have no standing to file suit. If a landlord or legal family member of an illegal immigrant had filed, she thinks the lawsuit against HB 1804 would have been upheld.

"We still believe we will end up making an 1804 arrest one day,” Tulsa Police Chief Ron Palmer said. "But our job has been one of education.”

Palmer's department has not changed its policy subsequent to HB 1804. Despite a resolution it signed with the city, he believes his department's role has been more about educating the community and attempting to restore some level of trust between the department and the city's Hispanic community, many of whom are misinformed and alarmed by the new law.

Palmer says he has seen no deviation in the city's crime statistics subsequent to HB 1804, other than the under-reporting of crime within the Hispanic community due to fear.

"We don't have a problem with deporting someone if we need to, but enforcing immigration law is not a high priority in terms of keeping the city of Tulsa safe,” Palmer said.

Tulsa police will probably not take an active role in immigration enforcement, he said, even if Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore, manages to pass the Son of HB 1804 — which would provide funding for law enforcement agencies to enforce the state statute and provide an incentive for them to have officers trained in federal immigration law.

"The sheriff's office appears to be filling that need quite sufficiently without us having to get involved,” Palmer said. "Asking city police to enforce federal immigration laws goes a bit too far. We don't ask them to hand out parking tickets.”

"The hard evidence is hard to come by. The proof is in the pudding, if you will,” Terrill said. "HB 1804 is proof that enforcement through attrition works. That's one of the reasons it has such a big target on its back.”

The future success of HB 1804 will continue to rest with law enforcement.

"Stringent enforcement is critical; there must be a willingness to support HB 1804 and a willingness to participate in the 287G” federal training program, Terrill said. "Obviously, when you have an unwillingness that is a hindrance.”

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