Homeland Security outreach facing criticism
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chibrknews-homeland-securi ty-outreach-facing-criticism-20110406,0,5158055.story The Associated Press 4:28 p.m. CDT, April 6, 2011 The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is "taking it to the streets." Or at least that's the motto behind a new pilot program aimed at combatting the negative image that some community groups have about the department. The program is being launched next week in Chicago with the hopes of undoing stereotypes, mistrust and misinformation about the department and its agencies, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The idea is to bring together DHS officials with immigrants, Muslims and other groups to encourage them to reach out with any questions or concerns. "All they see is that we're standing at the borders, searching luggage," said Robyn Dessaure, a Homeland Security field director, said about CBP. "It's time for us to get back on the ground." Dessaure said Homeland Security has become disconnected with the public, particularly after a DHS reorganization in 2003. Officials hope the Chicago program would become a template for similar outreach nationwide. Meeting with community groups to help build trust and get information is nothing new - the FBI has held meetings at mosques for years - but the Chicago program attempts to bring together different branches that typically don't work together. The idea was born out of a unique situation in Chicago last summer. Residents in a Muslim enclave on Chicago's North Side expressed concerns about post 9/11 racial profiling and called on federal officials to meet with community residents and leaders. The result were meetings that started out rough - there was palpable frustration in the room as a few dozen Muslim residents talked about feeling targeted. But some neighborhood residents and leaders said they have helped. While tensions between federal agents are hardly quelled, more than 100 people attended by the end. The new program's kickoff event is Monday at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Several organizations including student groups and the Polish American Chamber of Commerce have been invited. Dessaure envisions that some of discussion topics will be informing people about human trafficking and how to apply for agency jobs. Dessaure said there is no cost to the program because it will be built into community outreach the agency already does. However, the program has already drawn fierce criticism, illustrating the challenges ahead. The state's largest immigrant rights advocacy group blasted the program Wednesday and questioned the timing, especially as ICE tries to expand a fingerprinting program across Illinois and nationwide that allows authorities to check the immigration status of inmates. A statement from the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights called the program a public relations campaign that is trying to "put lipstick on a very ugly pig" and asked for other ways to improve relationships in immigrant communities. Some neighborhood groups weren't sold on the idea either, especially in the city's heavily Mexican enclave called Little Village where talk among residents of a 2007 daytime ICE raid on a neighborhood shopping mall still lingers. Alheli Herrera, an organizer for Enlace Chicago, said the nonprofit community group has been invited and will hear what federal officials have to say. But they're cautious. "The perception of ICE in our community is that that they are out to get us and especially get people who are here without status," she said. "We're willing to work with them, but it's taken with a huge spoonful of skepticism." 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