Santa Ana : Police Have No Plans for Educating Illegal Aliens

The Police Department has no plans to offer civics courses to illegal aliens, and the police officer who said that it would is “mistaken,” a police official said Friday.

At an immigration forum in Santa Ana on Thursday, Hispanic Affairs Officer Jose Vargas said the department is planning to offer a 15-hour course to illegal aliens on “everything you always wanted to know about American government.”

The courses were to have helped illegal residents fulfill an educational requirement for obtaining permanent resident status under the new federal immigration law, which calls for applicants to have basic knowledge of English, American history and government.

Vargas had said Thursday that although the course was still in the planning stages and had not received approval from city officials, the Police Department was pursuing funding for the novel program.

But on Friday, Vargas’ supervisor said Vargas is wrong.

“The department is not considering any new programs geared to helping illegal aliens qualify for amnesty or permanent residency,” Police Capt. Paul Walters said. “He was mistaken.”

Vargas was not available to explain his comments, Walters said.

The Police Department does have programs aimed at educating illegal aliens on such things as traffic safety, local law enforcement and “community standards in urban areas,” Walters said.

“But there’s no way we would teach American government,” Walters said. “That’s not our field.”