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Written Testimony for “Empowering Local Law Enforcement to Combat Illegal Immigration”


August 25, 2006


My name is Jim Pendergraph, Sheriff of Mecklenburg County North Carolina for the past 12 years. I have been in law enforcement for the past 36 years.
First, let me express my appreciation for the opportunity to appear before this Commission on “Empowering Local Law Enforcement to Combat Illegal Immigration.” I probably will never have another opportunity to address members of Congress on this very serious and controversial subject. It is with all due respect that I make my comments, so please excuse me for being blunt.
I strongly support the Office of the President of the United States and President Bush. However, I, and many others, strongly disagree with President Bush’s policy, or lack of, on illegal immigration. The Congress of the United States has let us down by the lack of action on the illegal immigration issue for decades, leaving those of us responsible for local law enforcement to deal with not only the fall-out of the criminal element, but the ire of the public for their perception of our inaction on a Federal issue.
Mine is one of the few Sheriff’s Offices in the United States that has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for the 287(g) program. After extensive training, twelve of my deputies are certified under this program to screen illegal immigrants arrested in Mecklenburg County. This certification gives us access to ICE databases of fingerprints and photographs, which is the only real method of positively identifying a person and their immigration status. Most law enforcement agencies in this country are trying to identify the legal status of an individual by telephoning the Law Enforcement Support Service Center in Vermont and submitting the name of a person in question. This is virtually worthless and a waste of time. I know it is shocking, but people lie to law enforcement about their name and use names of persons who are in this country legally. This past February I had lunch in Washington D.C. with a group of Chiefs and Sheriffs from the largest law enforcement agencies in the United States. I informed one of the Chiefs of Police of my recent agreement with ICE to screen illegal aliens and deport them if they fit the criteria. His comment to me was “congratulations and best of luck. I envy what you are doing but I’d have to turn in my resignation the same day I signed such an MOU. It is not politically correct to cross local business that uses the cheap labor.” Ladies and gentlemen, this ‘political correctness’ will eventually be the downfall of this country if someone doesn’t wake up.
My Office started the immigration screening for persons arrested on May 1, 2006. My jail population for illegal immigrants has grown from 2% to over 15% in the last three years. We have so many “new” arrestees to process, we have not been able to process the 350 inmates suspected of being illegal, that were “already” in the jail on May 1. As we suspected, the vast majority of immigrants arrested and processed are in this country illegally. Infrequently, we find a legal resident arrested, but they are rare since they are very protective of their legal status. More than half of the screened illegal’s have detainers for deportation placed on them immediately, either for past removals from this country or for the seriousness of the crime they are accused of. The first week we were processing, we came across an individual who had been removed from this country 22 times. His last deportation was from the Arizona Department of Corrections back to Mexico, and he was arrested a short time later in Charlotte for trafficking methamphetamine. Again, the majority of the people detainers are placed upon have been deported multiple times. The ones not held for deportation are cited for an immigration hearing in Atlanta. Most, 97%, never show up for the hearing, which is another reason we need an Immigration Court in Charlotte.
So many illegal immigrant criminals have been identified through my 287(g) program, it is causing me a jail space problem. One of the agreements with ICE in the beginning was for their removal of the identified offenders as soon as possible. I don’t think even they foresaw the numbers we would be dealing with. The Removal and Detention Division of ICE is overwhelmed by the numbers we are generating for removal in Mecklenburg County alone.
In the last year I have come to know and work very closely with the ICE employees in my area. I suspect the public would be outraged to know how few ICE agents there are assigned to North Carolina. ASAC Jeff Jordan, and
SAC Ken Smith from Atlanta, have literally bent over backwards to make this 287(g) program work. They are as dedicated and professional people as I have worked with in my 36 year law enforcement career. However, they are as frustrated as I am with their lack of resources, and the frequent dealings with the same people they just removed from this country only a few days prior.
I attended a meeting at the White House two months ago with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and ICE Director Julie Myers. The IACP, Major County Sheriffs’ Association, National Sheriffs’ Association, Major City Chiefs and other groups representing local law enforcement, stressed that border security was the number one issue that needs to be addressed by Congress. Another issue I brought to the Attorney General’s attention is the common practice by state and federal prosecutors to dismiss criminal cases if an illegal immigrant agrees to voluntary removal. The illegal criminal immigrants know the system and how it works better than most of us. This in effect wipes the slate clean for a criminal, gives him/her a free ride home at tax-payer expense to visit family, and then begin the journey back to the United States to victimize other U.S. citizens. Think of the frustration we feel when a group of illegals leaves the jail for deportation and they smile and say “we’ll see you next week.” One of the main purposes for our meeting with the Attorney General was for him to promote the 287(g) program and to request ‘everyone’ to become part of it. Most Chiefs of Police are not interested in the program for various reasons; the main one being it is not politically correct and is viewed as a federal problem. Most Sheriffs, because they are elected, would like to be part of the 287(g) program but ICE administrators admit they have nowhere near the resources to support that many MOU’s. ICE agents in North Carolina could not handle the work load if one fourth of the North Carolina Sheriffs signed an MOU with ICE for the 287(g) program. I can tell you for a fact, had it not been for Representative Myrick, I probably would not have my program operating now.
I firmly believe we are just seeing the beginning of problems surrounding illegal immigration. I have often heard that these illegal immigrants are just trying to feed their families and provide themselves a better life. I have seen some sad cases in my career of people resorting to bank robbery and other crimes to provide for their families. Can we afford to pick and choose the laws we enforce? This country was built on laws and I took an oath many years ago to enforce the law and protect our citizens from all enemies, foreign or domestic. I take that oath seriously.
The average citizen has no idea what illegal immigration issues costs us in infrastructure tax dollars. These include the criminal justice system, hospital emergency rooms, County Departments of Social Services, schools etc. A recent report from the Mecklenburg Health Department stated that the county spent $400,000 last fiscal year for interpreters for people who could speak little or no English that were seeking health services. The County’s Health Director predicts that in less than 5 years, fully 20% of the children starting school in Mecklenburg County will be children of illegal immigrant parents with little or no English skills.
I have nothing against immigrants and this country was built with and by immigrants looking for a better life. The flood of illegal immigrants crossing our southern border, expecting citizenship and all the privileges that come with it, is a slap in the face to every other immigrant who went through the legal process and did it the right way. Even though I have great concern for the flood of illegals coming across our southern border looking for a better way of life, my bigger concern is for those crossing our porous border looking to cause harm and commit acts of terrorism against the United States. This is a serious Homeland Security issue.
I have just scratched the surface of issues we face every day just dealing with illegal immigrants committing crimes in our community. Thank you for the opportunity to testify before this Commission. May God bless America and help Congress come to a quick resolution on this issue.

Respectfully submitted,


Jim Pendergraph
Mecklenburg County Sheriff
700 East 4th Street
Charlotte, North Carolina