New York Times gets it wrong again.

It's amazing that the New York Times is held up as such a great institution, when their reporting is so consistantly sloppy.

Here's the letter I wrote to their news editor today:

New York Times editor,


Your April 14, 2006 article (on the nytimes.com) by Paul Vitello titled "Path to deportation can start with a traffic stop" says the following in paragraph 4:

"In Costa Mesa, Calif., for example, in Orange County, the City Council last year shut down a day laborer job center that had operated for 17 years, and this year authorized its Police Department to begin training officers to pursue illegal immigrants — a job previously left to federal agents."

That statement is not factually correct.

I live in Costa Mesa and have read about this situation and if you research it, you will see that the city of Costa Mesa has NOT authorized it's police department to begin training officers to pursue illegal immigrants. They have only voted to begin the negotiation that will allow some of their officers to be trained to determine the immigration status of persons already arrested for other crimes.

Here is the actual text from the city council meeting. It took me all of five minutes to find it on line and I can send you the complete .pdf file if you wish.

City Council Agenda - December 6, 2005

Request from Mayor Mansoor to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Bureau to conduct Federal immigration investigations in Costa Mesa.

Recommendation: Provide direction to staff on securing an agreement with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement regarding use of the Costa Mesa Police Department personnel to enforce immigration laws on individuals arrested and brought into the City’s custodial facility

ACTION:
1. Directed a request to the County Board of Supervisors to include Costa Mesa Police personnel under the County’s application to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for Cross-Designation training in accordance with the Draft Proposal by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department of October 2005, and if approved training would be limited personnel from the City’s SED Gang Detail and the Detective Bureau; and

2. Directed a request to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to secure a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for Cross- Designation training of Civilian Custody personnel employed by the City of Costa Mesa, and authorized the City Manager and the Chief of Police to a negotiate the terms of the MOU with ICE, with the final document to be brought to the City Council for consideration along with any budget authorizations or amendments, as needed; and

3. Directed that dialogue be opened and to work with Congressman Dana Rohrabacher to assist in the work with ICE, (3-2, Council Member Dixon and Council Member Foley voting no).

Thank you for your time,

Louis Villaescusa
Costa Mesa, CA