HOUSE BACKS ANTI-ILLEGALS LEGISLATION THREE BILLS GET SUPPORT FROM GOP, DEMOCRATS.

Byline: LISA FRIEDMAN Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON -- The House voted Thursday to support three measures cracking down on illegal immigrants, including a bill to criminalize the financing and construction of border tunnels between the U.S. and Mexico.

The widely popular legislation, based on a measure introduced in May by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., is almost certain to be signed into law this year.

It imposes a prison sentence of up to 20 years for anyone convicted of building or financing an unauthorized tunnel, and up to 10 years for anyone who permits a subterranean passage to be built on their land.

Since Sept. 11, 2001, more than 38 tunnels have been discovered on the U.S.-Mexico border, including a 2,400-foot connection -- complete with lighting and ventilation -- between Otay Mesa and Tijuana.

The House also passed measures making it easier to detain and deport illegal immigrants and deputize local law enforcement officers to make immigration arrests.

Hazy future

Those measures, however, are far more controversial and face an uncertain future.

In Los Angeles, Police Chief William Bratton and Sheriff Lee Baca have both come out against efforts that would allow their officers to enforce immigration laws, although sheriff's officials in neighboring Orange County have endorsed such measures.

``This reaffirms the authority that we currently have,'' said Capt. Tim Board, a spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff's Department, which wants to send its deputies for special training by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

``The sheriff is interested in any tool at his disposal to take dangerous criminals off the streets, and he sees this as just one more tool to get that job done,'' he said.

The Los Angeles Police Department is governed by Special Order 40, a nearly three-decade-old regulation that prohibits officers from asking suspects their immigration status.

And the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, which operates the jails where an estimated one out of four are unauthorized immigrants, also does not ask inmates their immigration status. However, six civilian jail custodians interview inmates on their status and turn illegal immigrants over to federal officials.

``The sheriff does not believe that deputies on patrol should be enforcing immigration,'' said Baca spokesman Steve Whitmore. ``He believes that their time could be better spent, with their focus more concentrated on crime and jurisdiction.''

The House passed strict immigration enforcement legislation in December. The Senate in May approved a broader bill that incorporated tough border control but also included a guest-worker program and a means for America's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants to become U.S. citizens. No progress has been made on a compromise.

The three bills the House passed were part of the package passed in December.

Bipartisan support

While controversial, the House measures won significant Democratic support.

The Community Protection Act -- which makes it easier to detain and deport illegal immigrants, as well as those found to be part of a criminal street gang -- passed 328-95, with 105 Democrats voting in favor.

The Immigration Law Enforcement Act -- which gives state and local officers the green light to arrest and detain illegal immigrants -- passed 277-140, with 62 Democrats voting in favor.

Rep. Howard Berman, D-Van Nuys, who voted in favor of the tunnel bill but against the others, said Republicans would have passed a worker verification plan if they really wanted to crack down on illegal immigration.

``We're going to leave here in a week doing nothing about it. I don't understand how you're going to explain that to your constituents,'' he said.

The tunnel measure already passed the Senate and is expected to be widely agreed to in an upcoming bill.

GOP leaders are seeking to incorporate the law enforcement and expedited deportation measures into a Department of Homeland Security spending bill.

Key Republican and Democratic senators, however, indicated they will fight that move, making it increasingly unlikely that swift action will be taken.

lisa.friedman(at)langnews.com

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