Immigration battle brewing between cops

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - The state’s top cop is taking aim at his predecessor for opposing a controversial federal immigration program, a move he labeled "dangerous and irresponsible."

Rhode Island State Police Col. Brendan Doherty released a statement Wednesday reaffirming his department's commitment to working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) when checking on the immigration status of a person charged with a crime.

The statement comes after Steven Pare, Providence's new public safety commissioner – and Doherty's predecessor as head of the state police – first told Eyewitness News he had asked the federal government if the city can opt out of the “Secure Communities” program.

The initiative would send the fingerprints of someone charged with a crime to the federal government to check whether they are subject to deportation. Attorney General Peter Kilmartin signed an agreement for Rhode Island to use Secure Communities last month.

In addition, Pare has ordered his officers to stop using an electronic ICE database to check a person’s status who has been arrested, according to a memo obtained Monday exclusively by Target 12 . The memo said the department will instead fax daily “arraignment sheets” to ICE.

“It is truly disappointing that the City of Providence has adopted its position regarding the Secure Communities Program, which only continues to foster the confusion and fear surrounding this effective law enforcement tool,” Doherty said in the statement. “The City’s attempt to prohibit the good men and women of the Providence Police Department from participating in this very important cooperative program, during this day and age, is dangerous and irresponsible.”

• PDF: Read Colonel Doherty's statement

It was the Providence Police Department’s faxing policy that caused controversy in 2008 when Marco Riz, a Guatemalan immigrant wanted for deportation by ICE, was arrested and charged with carjacking and raping a woman in Roger Williams Park.

At the time, an ICE official blamed Providence police for not using the electronic system to check the immigration status of Riz, who is currently serving 30 years for the crime.

A federal judge had ordered Riz deported in 2004, making him a wanted man by ICE. But although Riz was arrested twice by Providence police in 2007 - once for domestic assault and once for driving under the influence of alcohol - he was released after arraignment both times.

In the wake of the controversy, Providence police officers began using NLETS - the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System - to check in with an immigration database run by ICE.

Pare, who was sworn in earlier this month, recently said the perception by the community that Providence police officers are immigration agents could have a "chilling effect" on investigating crimes.

"We've got to continue to build greater trust with our community and if they see us as immigration officers and the potential of being deported, that just shatters the trust," Pare said on a taping of WPRI 12's "Newsmakers" earlier this month.

Pare said any perception that Providence is a "sanctuary city," however, is inaccurate.

"If you get stopped and there is a deportation warrant out for you, the Providence Police are going to arrest you and lock you up for ICE for processing," Pare said. "We're talking administrative systems here."

Calls to a spokesman for Pare have not yet been returned. A spokesman for Gov. Lincoln Chafee, who said in January he was undecided about Secure Communities, was not immediately available.

twhite@wpri.com