By BRIAN ROGERS and JAMES PINKERTON Copyright 2009 HOUSTON CHRONICLE
April 1, 2009, 3:38PM

Assistant district attorneys and others today criticized a proposal being considered by Harris County District Attorney Pat Lykos in which criminal defendants would have to swear to their citizenship before receiving plea deals.

Four senior prosecutors, who asked not to be named, said Lykos' First Assistant Jim Leitner discussed the plan with about 50 prosecutors during a meeting last Friday. Under the plan, defendants in the country illegally will not be eligible for probation or deferred adjudication, including mandatory probations under state law. If the accused lies, he or she could be prosecuted for perjury.

The prosecutors also said plea papers are being redrafted for defendants to swear to their immigration status. If they refuse to sign, they will not be eligible for any plea bargains and their cases will be set for trial.

Lykos acknowledged that her office is examining policies surrounding illegal immigation, but declined to comment on specifics.

One longtime prosecutor said the policy circumvents the intent of laws making probation the maximum punishment for some drug cases.

"I'm not a big fan of probation, but the law is the law, and I think we should follow the law,"one longtime prosecutor said.

Others questioned how such a policy would affect dockets.

Terri Burke, executive director of American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, said the proposal would add to already crowded county jail facilities.

"Does the DA not have more important crimes to be prosecuting, and more important crime issues to be concerned with?" Burke asked. "I think we're seeing over and over law enforcement turning illegal immigrants into their new bogeyman, when it doesn't make sense to do that."

Houston immigration attorney Lawrence Rushton said the policy discriminates against undocumented defendants.

"I don't think it's a very wise policy," he said. "If they follow … that to the letter, that means everyone here who is undocumented will go to trial, and it will exhaust all the resources of the DA's office. In practice, probably it will end up being no plea agreement without some kind of jail time."

Others, however, welcomed the discussion, including U.S. Immigration and Customs officials in Houston, who said they continue to explore efforts to work with local law enforcement to remove illegal immigrants from the area.

"We think the impact would be minimal, and we should be able to handle that difference," said Kenneth Landgrebe, who heads ICE detention and removal operations.

Landgrebe said ICE and local officials "share common challenges in enforcement from our different perspectives, and there are things that all law enforcement can do to help each other accomplish our mission of securing our community, and making it a safer place to be."

brian.rogers@chron.com

james.pinkerton@chron.com