Citizenship checks catch area officials off guard

McALLEN - Federal plans to check immigration status in the event of a mandatory hurricane evacuation drew criticism Friday from local emergency planners.

Local leaders said they were caught off guard because they had previously understood that immigration verification would only take place at checkpoints such as the ones at Falfurrias and Sarita, several miles north of the border with Mexico.

But local Border Patrol spokesman Dan Doty maintained that screenings at checkpoints and evacuation staging sites in cities closer to the border had always been part of the plan.

Screening bus riders before they arrived at Border Patrol stations to the north could save countless hours, and anyone found not to have the proper documents would be placed into custody and taken to a safe location, he said.

"Our border security doesn't stop," he said. "This has always been our policy."

Local officials, however, worry the screenings could delay time-sensitive departure efforts and scare many undocumented Rio Grande Valley residents into staying behind and putting their lives in danger, they said.

"It could certainly have a chilling effect," said Kevin Pagan, McAllen's emergency management coordinator. "No one's trying to accommodate undesirables entering the country, but this adds a level of complexity that we're not prepared to deal with."

The issue was underscored during a mock evacuation drill Tuesday at the McAllen Convention Center. As local officials practiced loading hundreds of people onto buses, they noticed U.S. Border Patrol agents conducting document checks.

The issue of how to deal with the immigration status of evacuees has remained an open question since Gov. Rick Perry made emergency planning a priority across the state in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

In 2006, his office announced highway checkpoints would be closed should Valley residents need to evacuate. Federal officials subsequently contradicted that announcement; however, the governor said this week his position on the issue has not changed despite federal assistance.

During preparations for Hurricane Dean last year, Hidalgo County Judge J.D. Salinas said he thought the region had a "silent understanding" that immigration checks would not be a top priority.

"My understanding was that life safety was their first job," he said. "They can't just open up the borders, but we already have apathy from people that want to stay behind."

Local leaders continue to meet with Border Patrol officials to discuss alternative evacuation plans for illegal immigrants, including an option that would move some residents west to Laredo without asking citizenship questions.

Because the city is south of federal checkpoints, those without U.S. citizenship or the appropriate visa could travel there unhindered.