Linebacker: Blurring the Line

Some time ago, I posted a comment about “Operation Linebacker” — a program providing funding for border sheriff’s offices for ostesibly for the purpose of fighting crime along the border.  As predicted, however, the bulk of enforcement has actually been of immigration law, not criminal law.

Brandi Grissom of the El Paso Times reports today that between Jan. 15 and June 3, the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office called U.S. Border Patrol agents about at least 860 undocumented immigrants.  In contrast, officers seized no drugs and arrested only 78 criminals in the first three months of Operation Linebacker (the article does not provide numbers for comparison for the same 6 month period.)

El Paso County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Rick Glancey insists that identifying undocumented aliens is not a goal for Operation Linebacker, but it is clearly the primary effect of that program, and the article notes that El Paso County Sheriff Leo Samaniego has come under fire from immigration activists, civil rights groups and politicians for his implementation of Operation Linebacker because it seems to blur the line between crime fighting and immigration enforcement.

ACLU of Texas Executive Director Will Harrell is cited as saying that to the extent that Linebacker money is actually being used for the purposes of tracking people for immigration violations, this might be an improper use of the funds, and could jeopardize funding for the Linebacker program.

The full El Paso Times article is here.

jmc