Southern Utah seeks to bolster immigration enforcement

Law enforcement officers along southern Utah's busy illegal immigrant smuggling corridors are calling for more attention from the federal agency tasked with interior immigration enforcement.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement says it is taking steps to bolster interior enforcement in southern Utah, in part by adding a new agent in St. George, and is considering creating a supervisory position there.

But St. George Police Chief Marlon Stratton said he'd like to see 10 more agents in the 21,000-square-mile region that encompasses seven counties.

"The bottom line is we need help from ICE," he said. "The agents working here are doing a great job. ... In a lot of cases they're just not available, by no fault of their own. They're just understaffed."

All too often, Stratton said traffic stops that could result in the arrests of illegal immigrants end in only traffic citations because ICE lacks the manpower to respond.

"Frankly, there have been times when we believe everybody in the van is undocumented coming through our area," he said. "It's difficult for us ... if we call ICE and they're not available where are we."

After hearing the concerns shared by Stratton and the Washington County sheriff, Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.

"St. George is the fastest-growing metropolitan area in the country, with one thousand new residents moving to the area every month," Matheson said in the letter. "Yet the Department of Homeland Security has failed to respond with sufficient resources for ICE in the region."

The issue of illegal immigrant traffic through southern Utah has made headlines recently in two separate fatal crashes.

Eight people were killed and six injured in an April SUV crash on U.S. 191 near Bluff. In June, two people were killed and six injured in a rollover on Route 59 near Apple Valley in Washington County.

Another step ICE is taking will make Utah's ICE Office of Investigations fall under the Denver Special Agent In Charge, rather than San Francisco. The change, to take place Oct. 1, should improve response times for southeastern Utah by making Durango and Grand Junction the two closest offices to southeastern Utah, rather than Utah County, said agency spokeswoman Virginia Kice.

"The issue is simply, I think, trying to do what makes the most sense in terms of geography," she said. "Because there are common smuggling routes that bisect the two states, it does make sense. That was part of the impetus to put Utah under Colorado."