A Lebanese immigrant in New York City, Charbel Chehoud is facing imminent deportation, despite making a particularly significant contribution to his community. In 1999, two men intentionally drowned a third in a New Jersey bay, but the death was ruled an accident by police. Seven years later, Chehoud, who was not involved in the incident, reported the details to the police, who were then able to successfully prosecute the criminals. Now, Chehoud, who has been in the U.S. since 1989, is in federal custody and is set to be deported. Despite the contributions made to his community and despite the fact that he is engaged to be married to a U.S. citizen, Chehoud may soon find himself on a plane destined for a land he hasn’t seen in over twenty years.
The deportation of Chehoud illuminates a larger problem affecting this country’s undocumented population, as well as the larger communities in which they live. Too often, concerned about their lack of authorization to be in this country, immigrants who observe or are the victims of crimes choose not to report them to law enforcement. This puts these individuals at risk for being exploited by opportunistic criminals, but it also negatively impacts others, as law enforcement officers are unable to affectively police their communities without the full cooperation of all within them.
In Southern Arizona, authorities have warned that relatively low crime statistics for the region do not reflect the reality of the situation, as it is likely that crimes committed locally are vastly underreported. One recent report states that law enforcement in Santa Cruz County are well aware that bandits are preying on undocumented immigrants in the county, committing robberies and assaults. However, the victims of these crimes know that if they report them, they will be instantly turned over to the Border Patrol. As a result, all Nogales-area residents are at risk of falling victim to these unreported border criminals.
In the recent PBS Frontline documentary “Lost in Detention,” Lake County, Ill. Sheriff Mark Curran admitted that the lack of crime reporting by immigrants in his jurisdiction has made it very difficult for local law enforcement officials to do their job. Curran, who states that he originally supported the Secure Communities program, has now become an advocate against it. As long as state and local police are required in many places throughout the country to report all undocumented individuals they encounter to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, many immigrants will continue to be unwilling to help police protect their communities.
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