U.S. and Denver officials said Wednesday that neither police nor the restaurant where alleged cop killer Raul Garcia-Gomez worked would have been expected to determine his legal immigration status.
It’s a matter of resources, law and discrimination worries, they said.
Garcia-Gomez had been contacted by Denver traffic police three times in the past year and was working under a fake Social Security number.
But federal immigration officials said enforcement efforts are focused on keeping illegal workers out of high-security jobs in places such as airports, nuclear power plants and military installations. And police say unless a person is suspected in a serious crime, it’s unlikely his immigration status will be questioned.
“We are prioritizing our resources, just like everyone else,” said Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Carl Rusnok. “But prioritizing our mission areas does not mean we’re not going to be arresting noncriminal aliens.”
Garcia-Gomez, 19, is the prime suspect in the shootings of two detectives working off-duty security early Sunday morning. Detective Donald “Donnie” Young died from his wounds. Detective John “Jack” Bishop survived, perhaps because of a bulletproof vest.
U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., on Tuesday accused Denver police of abiding by a so-called sanctuary policy because they did not detain Garcia- Gomez when he was involved in three routine traffic incidents. Each time, he produced a valid Mexican driver’s license either to the officers or in court.
“It is unconscionable that Mr. Garcia-Gomez had three prior run-ins with the law but was let off scot-free. … Why wasn’t the Immigration and Customs Service contacted?
“We already know Mayor (John) Hickenlooper’s refusal to reverse Denver’s failed and illegal sanctuary policy is dangerous to all Coloradans.”
City attorney Cole Finegan said the city has no sanctuary policy – official or unofficial – that keeps officers from making referrals to immigration authorities.
“Congressman Tancredo appears to misunderstand the law and the facts in this instance,” Finegan said.
The city’s police operations manual says “an individual’s foreign status is not in and of itself ‘reasonable suspicion’ and thus cannot be used as a basis to detain and arrest an individual.”
State law says foreign driver’s licenses are an acceptable form of identification.
Other Colorado police officials said Wednesday that their officers usually contact immigration authorities only in serious cases such as felony investigations and traffic accidents involving vans carrying several suspected undocumented workers. “We can’t prove whether they are illegal or not. We don’t know if they’re (in the U.S.) on a visa or something,” Colorado State Trooper Eric Wynn said.
When Garcia-Gomez was hired as a dishwasher at the Cherry Cricket, he produced a Social Security card and a resident immigrant card issued by the U.S. Department of Justice, said Mark Eddy, spokesman for Wynkoop Holdings Inc., which manages Hickenlooper’s nine- restaurant group.
In fact, the letter the Cherry Cricket received in late March from the Social Security Administration advising managers that Garcia-Gomez’s Social Security number might be invalid warned them not to fire or discriminate against him.
“We are very sensitive to the issue of discrimination,” Eddy said. “Those who suggest that we contact Immigration and Customs Enforcement simply because someone speaks with an accent or because of the color of their skin are misguided.”
The issue is further complicated by expert forgers who crank out near-perfect versions of the dozens of types of green cards used to prove employability.
“None of us are document experts,” said Denver immigration lawyer Ann Allott, author of “How to Complete the Form I-9.” “A conscientious employer in a business that requires unskilled labor has little opportunity to miss hiring an illegal alien. Workers are determined to work here, and they figure out the system.”
