Federal Lawmaker Takes Aim At Local Immigration Issue

Saturday, June 9th 2007, 2:01 pm

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ A local debate over whether this city has become a haven for illegal immigrants has taken a rare twist in past weeks, with a congressman saying the mayor and police chief were not doing enough to enforce immigration laws.

The criticism comes as the U.S. Senate debates legislation that would give up to 12 million illegal immigrants a pathway to citizenship.

Rep. John Sullivan, R-Okla., estimates anywhere between 40,000 to 60,000 illegal immigrants live in this northeastern Oklahoma city of 383,000.

He says there is no clear policy in place for police to report illegal immigrants and that officers can only ask about someone's citizenship.

Lack of reporting is making Tulsa a ``sanctuary city'' for illegal immigrants and preventing Tulsa from getting a local U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement presence, Sullivan contends.

``I like the mayor, this is not personal at all, this is an issue about getting the citizens of Tulsa the protection they need,'' Sullivan said in a recent interview. ``They like to muddy the waters and say we're going to round people up and it's racism.''

Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor, a Democrat, says that instead of giving lectures and trying to micromanage the police department, lawmakers like Sullivan should be working to fix immigration policy at the national level.

She said police regularly report illegal immigrants, and cited a March incident where Tulsa contacted ICE three times about detaining an illegal immigrant involved in a DUI car accident that killed a toddler, only to have the agency tell police not to hold him.

``If they were going to parachute in, it would be nice if they would parachute in with some resources,'' said Taylor, speaking about Oklahoma's federal delegation weighing in on the local issue. ``I think our police department and our sheriff's department are doing their jobs and they are the ones that need to manage law enforcement along with the mayor of this city.''

Last month, the City Council passed a nonbinding resolution that would have Tulsa police check the immigration status of anyone arrested for felonies or misdemeanors.

The initial resolution was limited to felony arrests, but Sullivan's office lobbied to expand it to misdemeanors. He was joined in support by Sens. Jim Inhofe and Tom Coburn, who sent a letter last month to the Tulsa City Council urging it to adopt a proposal to permit police to ask for proof of citizenship ``on all suspected illegal aliens'' encountered by officers during their regular duties.

``I haven't found anyone that doesn't agree with me unless they're an illegal immigrant, the police chief or mayor,'' Sullivan said. ``I don't care if they're Democrat, Republican, rich, poor, black, white.''

On Friday, Taylor issued a clarification to police policy, saying that officers will inquire and promptly report the citizenship status of all individuals arrested for felonies and full-custody misdemeanors. She said it addressed concerns raised in the council's resolution.

Even though she authorized the compromise, Taylor said fixing illegal immigration is a ``uniquely federal issue.''

``I think this ... should not be left to the patchwork of ordinances, resolutions and bills of states and municipalities,'' Taylor said in an interview Thursday. ``It's way too important.''

Sebastian Lantos, a court-certified Spanish interpreter and community activist, says Sullivan is weighing in to create a misstep for Taylor to try to portray her as not worrying about criminals.

``I wonder the real purpose of this, it's a feel good thing, gang up against the mayor to make her look like she's not tough on crime,'' Lantos said. ``We need to let the U.S. Congress work on this thing and not have a patchwork of laws.''

The Rev. Victor Orta, pastor of the El Pueblo De Dios church in Tulsa, said there already is fear throughout the city's Latino community, where some undocumented workers have a perception a police officer can stop them almost anywhere in Tulsa and ask for their papers.

``I just got three calls this morning; they're afraid to go to the Quik-Trip because they're afraid of getting stopped,'' Orta said.

But Carol Helm, director of Immigration Reform for Oklahoma Now, says Sullivan was in the right to intervene because the resolution on the mayor's desk deals with enforcing the law.

``When they bring a felon in, and they don't determine whether he's an illegal alien, we're going to house, feed and clothe him, he's going to have his day in court,'' Helm said. ``We're going to pay for this.''

Bill Wortman, who owns a heating and air conditioning business here with 15 employees, said officials' hands-off approach to immigration has caused Tulsa to become a sanctuary city in the past five years.

``You don't need to pass a law, enforce the ones you've got,'' Wortman said. ``The law says you don't hire someone unless they've got two forms of identification, you don't have to deport, you don't have to do anything.''