Study of INS Program at Jail Put on Hold

A study of a pilot program that identifies Anaheim City Jail prisoners in the country illegally is on hold, officials said this week.

Norman Rabkin, director of Administration of Justice Issues at the General Accounting Office in Washington, said the GAO staff is working on other projects and cannot immediately respond.

The study was requested by Rep. Loretta Sanchez, (D-Garden Grove), whose district includes a portion of Anaheim.

“Our intention is, when resources are available, we will do the study,” Rabkin said.

Because of the pending study, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, which has agents stationed at the jail to screen prisoners, agreed to extend to June 30 Anaheim’s pilot program, which began in November.

Rabkin said the study could be completed “within two months after we start.”

Steve Jost, Sanchez’s chief of staff, said Sanchez will ask the INS to extend the Anaheim program until the study is completed.

City Councilman Bob Zemel, a supporter of the INS program, said he will work for an extension of the program if the GAO study is not done by the end of June.

“The fate of the program is totally up in the air,” Zemel said. “If the GAO can’t do the audit because of resources, the INS program should be continued indefinitely until the study is completed.”

Zemel has been a critic of Sanchez’s request for the GAO study, saying that it is unnecessary. The program has been successful in Anaheim, he said, so spending money for a study of it does not make sense.

Anaheim officials this month said that, of the 6,300 criminal suspects booked into the City Jail since the program began, more than 660 were identified by INS agents at the jail as deportable.