Stephen Wall, Staff Writer
Posted: 05/15/2010 10:45:13 PM PDT
It's been a banner year for a toll-free tip line that citizens can call to report immigration violations.
Fueled in part by citizens fed up with illegal immigration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials received nearly 100,000 calls to the tip line from Oct. 1 through the end of April.
At this point in the previous fiscal year, the number was less than 64,000, said David Palmatier, chief of ICE's law enforcement support center in Williston, Vt.
"This current fiscal year is likely to be a record for us," he said.
Palmatier attributed the increase to an effective outreach campaign on the ICE website and extensive public service announcements in media outlets.
The tip line was started in 2003 as part of Operation Predator, a campaign to crack down on international child pornography and child sex tourism.
Palmatier said the effort was so successful ICE decided to expand it to cover all customs and immigration-related crimes.
But people calling to report low-level immigration violations, like a neighbor who might be an illegal immigrant, likely are not getting the responses they hope for.
"We focus on criminal activity," Palmatier said. "We're not really set up to respond to administrative violations. We have to prioritize. ICE has taken the position of going after the worst of the worst. That means criminal aliens."
Critics said part of ICE's job is to go after day laborers congregating in
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hardware store parking lots.
"That's sort of the place where ICE, even without a tip, should be looking for people," said Ira Mehlman, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a Washington-based group that seeks to reduce immigration. "These are the sorts of obvious places that there should be law enforcement."
Mehlman recognizes ICE is hampered by limited resources.
"Obviously, there's a big job," Mehlman said. "You're going to need the manpower. That is one of the reasons we have strongly supported 287(g) and other programs designed to enlist the aid of local police."
People calling the tip line can select from a menu of options, including reporting information about most-wanted fugitives, human trafficking and employment of illegal immigrants, drug smuggling, child pornography, terrorist activity and financial crimes.
An employee at the ICE call center in Vermont will collect as much information from the caller as possible. Tips are written up and instantly sent via computer to local ICE field offices. ICE's Los Angeles field office oversees the San Bernardino County area.
About 60 people work in the call center. It's staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Wait times are about a minute, Palmatier said.
Investigators in the field offices decide whether to follow up on leads based on local resources and priorities.
Palmatier said he couldn't say how many tips are received for specific activities. ICE also doesn't break down tips by regions of the country, he said.
But he did say many of the calls are complaints about people working in the country illegally and the employers who hire them.
Other common tips involve allegations of people using fraudulent documents generated from fake Social Security numbers. Benefit fraud is another frequent complaint. An example is someone getting another person into the country through a false marriage.
Palmatier said ICE investigators do their best to respond to all tips, but they focus their resources on cases of criminal activity, public safety and national security.
Mehlman, the FAIR spokesman, said the public understandably is frustrated if someone calls the tip line several times and there is no action.
He criticized the Obama administration for lacking "the political will" to enforce immigration laws except in cases involving serious or violent felons.
Latino activists said they don't mind if the tip line is used to help apprehend dangerous criminals or foil terrorist plots.
"It's good as long as it's actually used for what it's intended," said Emilio Amaya, director of the San Bernardino Community Service Center, an immigrant support organization. "If it's just to turn in your neighbor because you don't like them, that's a problem."
Pompano Beach, Fla., resident David Caulkett said it was government inaction that prompted him to create the for-profit website, www.reportillegals.com.
For a $10 service charge, Caulkett will process reports from the public about suspected illegal immigrants and their employers as well as other immigration violations.
The reports are faxed to the appropriate government agency, but Caulkett said there is no guarantee complaints will be acted upon.
He said his service is faster and more convenient than other reporting channels.
Caulkett wouldn't disclose how many reports he receives or how much money he makes from the site.
The money pays for processing the reports as well as operation of the seven-year-old website. The funds also help run Caulkett's companion website, www.illegalaliens.us, which advocates increased immigration enforcement.
Caulkett, a 61-year-old who used to work in the high-tech computer industry, said he encourages people to use other reporting channels if they don't want to pay the fee.
"If we had a fair and functioning governmental system that enforced the law, I'd be happy to shut this website down," said Caulkett.
Rep. David Dreier, R-San Dimas, said he shares the frustrations of those who believe the federal government isn't doing enough to end illegal immigration.
"On-the-ground human intelligence is a critical source of information for ICE," Dreier said in a written statement, "and the tip line provides communities with a tool to report suspicious activity. I believe every credible lead should be investigated."
Dreier reiterated his call for passage of House Resolution 98, a bill he introduced last year that requires counterfeit-proof Social Security cards to end the job magnet that draws people to the United States illegally.
Rep. Gary Miller, R-Brea, called the ICE tip line "a great resource." But he said it alone won't stop the illegal immigration crisis.
Miller, whose district includes Chino and Chino Hills, said the federal government must expand programs like E-Verify to ensure employers hire legal workers.
"With the national unemployment rate at a 26-year high, it is time the administration enforce current immigration laws and crack down on the hiring of illegal aliens," Miller said in a statement. "By simply enforcing immigration laws, eight million jobs for citizens and legal workers would be created."
The ICE hot line can be reached at 866-DHS-2-ICE (866-347-2423).
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