FACT FINDER: How police & prosecutors fight illegal immigrant crime (WSBT-IN)

FACT FINDER: How police & prosecutors fight illegal immigrant crime
Immigration spokesperson says ICE prioritizes "serious criminals who present the greatest risk"

By Kelli Stopczynski
5:09 p.m. EDT, August 30, 2011

ELKHART COUNTY – Last week's violent crime spree in Elkhart County has now put the spotlight on illegal immigrants and crime. WSBT’s Fact Finder 22 team did some more digging Tuesday on how Elkhart County police and prosecutors handle suspected illegals who break the law.

Francisco Macias is the man accused of stabbing two women. He is a "person of interest" in a house fire that killed three people.

WSBT found out Macias might have still been in the United States legally even though he was apparently not a U.S. citizen. Court documents from a 2008 domestic violence case show Macias was born in Mexico and was not a citizen of the United States. But we might never know if he was here illegally because Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) can't release that information without a signed waiver from Macias.

We did find out the bigger problem of illegal immigrants and crime is frustrating for Elkhart County police and prosecutors.

When Elkhart County Prosecutor Curtis Hill took office in 2003, he required deputy prosecutors to report convicted criminals who were illegal to ICE.

“[That reporting] went on for quite some time and nothing ever seemed to happen. You can't burden your deputies with this is another part of a job because this is really not their job. It's beyond us,” said Ed Windbigler, chief investigator for the Elkhart County Prosecutor’s Office.

The prosecutor’s office is obligated to properly prosecute people who commit crimes and a fair number of those people are not legal citizens, he added.

But if immigration officials don’t pick illegals up, there’s not much else the prosecutor can do.

“It’s a matter of resources,” Windbigler said. “If they only have two offices in the state, I don’t know how they would ever keep up with the number of people who may be here illegally who have committed a crime.”

Before the prosecutor’s office ever sees those cases, many of them begin with officers on the streets and at the Elkhart County Jail. They often have to determine whether a suspect is legal and that process isn’t easy.

“There's a lot of forged documents out there,” said Elkhart County Undersheriff Sean Holmes. “That's getting into a whole other topic, but that does happen.”

Even though everyone booked into the jail is asked if they were born in the United States and their names turned over to ICE if their answer is "no," police still have to be careful not to violate somebody's rights during an investigation.

“You can't just pick somebody up and arrest them because you think they're not a citizen,” Holmes said.

Regardless, it’s a complicated issue with no clear cut answer.

“I don’t have a solution for you, I really don't,” said Windbigler. “It is a problem but it's much bigger than Elkhart, Indiana.”

In a written statement to WSBT, ICE spokeswoman Gail Montenegro said “U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is focused on sensible, effective immigration enforcement that prioritizes first on serious criminals who present the greatest risk to the security of our communities.”

The statement went on to say ICE had “record-breaking immigration enforcement statistics” in fiscal year 2010.

“For two years in a row, ICE has removed more aliens than were removed in fiscal year 2008,” wrote Montenegro. “In fiscal year 2010, half of those removed—more than 195,000—were convicted criminals. The fiscal year 2010 statistics represent increases of more than 23,000 removals overall and 81,000 criminal removals compared to fiscal year 2008.”

WSBT has been in e-mail contact with Elkhart Superior Court Judge Evan Roberts who apparently knew Macias was not a legal U.S. resident in a domestic violence case. He sentenced Macias to probation. Judge Roberts told WSBT he still needs time to review the case before commenting on it.