California dealing with influx of Alternative to Detention immigrants
California borough is dealing with a recent influx of immigrants into their neighborhoods as part of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) program, a development that has flummoxed borough officials as they’ve tried to respond to and alleviate resident concerns.
ICE officials confirmed last week that there are Alternative to Detention (ATD) program participants living in the borough.
The ATD program, according to ICE officials, is a flight mitigation tool that uses technology and case management to increase compliance with release conditions, and facilitate compliance with court hearings and final orders of removal while allowing individuals to remain in a community as they move through immigration proceedings.
California Borough Administrator Richard Martin said he reached out to ICE officials about three weeks ago to inquire about the program’s presence in the borough after he began receiving complaints from residents about program participants.
“I’m kind of getting blamed (for the influx),” Martin said, adding that he was aware of approximately 14 to 16 families in the program residing in the borough. “I had nothing to do with it.”
California Police Chief Richard Encapera said at a June 8 council meeting that an ICE representative was going to visit the borough to provide more details about the program.
That meeting yielded several impassioned grievances to council about ATD program participants, with some residents saying that Romanian immigrants were posing a danger to the community.
Resident Pam Duricic said at the meeting that several immigrants drag raced up Union Street onto Pennsylvania Avenue and Dylan Beckowitz said one of them hit his vehicle. Encapera confirmed later in the meeting that the individual responsible for what he said was a hit-and-run had been cited and that Beckowitz had been reimbursed for the damage.
Duricic said that an immigrant resident had tried to lure a 17-year-old female into a car and complained of other issues.
“We just want to know what kind of procedures were taken to bring them in, who brought them in, why they’re here,” Duricic said to council. “… It’s a little scary.”
Borough resident David Buletza said during the meeting that the residents in question cause an excessive amount of trash, talk loudly and stand across the street to watch him.
“I’ve been there about 15 years, and it’s been full of college kids the whole time,” Buletza said. “I’ve never, ever experienced anything like this.”
“What I saw at that meeting bordered on hysteria,” Martin said Monday, echoing Encapera’s advisement to residents to call 911 following unlawful incidents.
ICE, a federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, does not place participants in specific jurisdictions, ICE officials said. ICE catalogues and monitors the residence the ATD participant identifies. Trained ATD officers make a determination on the most appropriate level of case management and technology assignment, officials said.
Participants in ICE’s ATD program are unlawfully present in the United States, and ICE officials said that enrollment in ATD, in conjunction with the removal hearing process, may encourage compliance with requirements leading up to removal such as providing identity documents or making travel arrangements.
“This is a surprise for us,” Council President Patsy Alfano said at the June 8 meeting. “(ICE) didn’t ask us if it was okay, that’s for sure.”
Martin said it would have been nice if ICE had given the borough prior notice about the presence of ATD participants there so that police officers could prepare accordingly, like having a traffic stop procedure in place for the non-English-speaking residents.
Several borough residents observed at council’s June 8 meeting that individuals ostensibly participating in the ATD program wore ankle monitors.
ICE officials told the Herald-Standard that ATD, particularly GPS monitoring, allows ICE to manage individuals who may pose a flight risk, but for whom detention may not be the most appropriate option.
ICE officials added that their agency does not place ATD participants in certain communities, and that those individuals determined by ICE to be eligible for release under ATD decide where they will reside.
Vito Dentino, an area rental manager who said at the June 8 meeting that he rents to some of the individuals under discussion, said some of the folks are employed in construction, and travel to Maryland for work.
Dentino explained to residents upset at him for renting to some of these individuals or not thoroughly checking their backgrounds that he was greatly limited by fair housing laws regarding what he can ask prospective tenants in an attempt at such a background check.
He encouraged residents to try to talk with those that know enough English to get by and get to know them. “They don’t know anybody else,” he said.
Martin said Encapera was doing a commendable job in leading police to work through the communication barrier with ATD participants while also being responsive to resident concerns that are communicated to his department.
“It’s America,” Martin said. “We don’t get to label people as undesirable and say, ‘You can’t live here.'”