EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Like their brethren across Texas, El Paso’s law enforcement officers are caught between a rock and a hard place when it comes to a looming state mandate that would have them arrest unauthorized migrants.
On the one hand, they’re obligated to enforce all state laws; on the other, they don’t have the training, jail space and manpower to deal with migrant arrests, and they fear losing the trust of Hispanics – which make up 40% of the population in Texas and 83% in El Paso.
“Any law on the books (deputies) come across, of course, they are going to enforce it, but we’re not going to prioritize it,” El Paso County Sheriff’s Office Patrol Cmdr. Ryan Urrutia said regarding Texas’ SB4 law, which the U.S. Supreme Court let stand on Tuesday morning, but a circuit court paused hours later. “This is a law that complicates the issue of racial profiling as well. Our department has not had racial profiling complaints for several years and we want to maintain that standard.”
While the courts decide SB4’s fate, local police departments are preparing an operational response should it stand judicial scrutiny. Like the Sheriff’s Office, the El Paso Police Department is prepared to enforce it but not at the cost of responding to public safety calls or public health contingencies.
“While the City of El Paso will always follow state law, it is no secret that our police department is short staffed. Our law enforcement responses are always priority-driven, and our number one priority has and will continue to be public health and safety, not enforcing immigration law,” El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser said earlier.
The county sheriff has 270 deputies and 2,900 jail beds, most of which are occupied or unavailable because of construction, Urrutia said.
“We are near capacity; we are holding the highest number of state inmates we’ve had in years,” the patrol commander said. “The Downtown jail is undergoing renovations and we had to close certain floors. We’re down 300 to 350 depending on which floor […] If Texas (Department of Public Safety) comes in with surge operations, we could see an influx from those operations.”
That could lead to the release of some low-level offenders and the loss of federal inmates – which the federal government reimburses the county at a rate of $100 per day vs. a net cost of $85 to $87 for the county. The county would be obligated to house new state inmates and send federal inmates elsewhere, losing out on revenue. “We could see an influx in our jails, which ultimately gets passed on to our taxpayers. There is no money assigned to (jailing migrants), so it’s a big concern to us,” Urrutia said.
Law enforcement officials and community advocates say border communities have always struggled with gaining the trust of immigrants or mixed-status families (some are U.S. citizens, some are undocumented) whose members have been victims of a crime. Whatever gains have been made could crumble if community members begin looking at peace officers not as a resource but as the enemy.
“We don’t want the community to feel your status is going to be cause for deportation, for you to be arrested. If you are a victim of crime, we want you to speak up, hold individuals accountable. Maintaining that trust with the community is very important,” Urrutia said.
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