Advocates ask for end to local law enforcement of immigration law

Racial profiling result of 287(g), labor advocates say

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LOS ANGELES — Immigrant and civil rights advocates are asking the Obama administration to put an end to a federal program that lets local police and sheriff's departments enforce the country's immigration laws.

More than 500 organizations signed a letter dated Tuesday urging Obama to end the program, which they claim has exacerbated racial profiling.

Immigrant rights groups have long condemned the so-called 287(g) program, which trains local law enforcement officers and lets them enforce immigration law in their jurisdictions. It also has been criticized by the Government Accountability Office and led to a Justice Department Investigation of the Maricopa County, Ariz., sheriff's office.

Organizations decided to call for the program to be terminated after the Obama administration last month announced plans to revamp it, said Marielena Hincapie, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center.

"Our assessment is these changes are really cosmetic changes and are not going to achieve the type of structural changes that are needed," Hincapie said. "Given the violations that have been documented and the potential for increased racial profiling and increased violation, at this point, the best thing is to stop administering this program."

Signatories to the letter include the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Anti-Defamation League and others.

Matt Chandler, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, said the agency takes the concerns raised by the signatories very seriously but believes the administration's revamp will strengthen federal government oversight of the program.

Last month, the government said changes to the program included requiring local agencies to resolve criminal charges that led to the arrest of immigrants and establishing a complaint process.

Chandler said 66 local law enforcement agencies currently have 287(g) programs and 13 more have been approved to start them.

Chris Newman, legal programs director for the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, said the letter was sent on Tuesday and Wednesday.