Thread: VA. Funding for 287g Immigration Program in Question

Funding for 287g Immigration Program in Question

October 16, 2012 - PotomacLocal.com
3:40 p.m.

A controversial agreement between federal officials and the Prince William County Sheriff’s Office is under review.

Sheriff Glen Hill was notified by the U.S. Customs and Immigration Department an agreement between the two agencies that allows trained sheriff’s deputies to check the legal status of all persons charged with crimes in Prince William County will be extended until the end of the year.

In exchange for the training, the original agreement stipulated the data collected would be shared with customs officials, said Hill.

The program known as 287g will be evaluated by federal officials through Dec. 31. Afterward, Hill will learn if federal officials will decide to continue the 287g program with his department. Hill said he does not know what federal officials will review and has little details on the evaluation process.

A statement from Prince William County Board of Supervisor Corey Stewart on Tuesday afternoon blamed the Obama administration, saying the White House chose to completely end funding for the 287g program after 2012.

3:10 p.m.
PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. – A controversial program that helps law enforcement in Prince William County identify illegal immigrants will not be renewed.

Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart announced the program known as 287g with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which allows the sheriff’s office to determine the legal presence of those jailed and charged with other criminal offenses, will come to an end in Prince William this year.

Stewart said the Obama Administration decided not to renew federal funding for the program, and that county officials were notified last week.

The 287g program became controversial in 2007 when the Prince William County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution allowing law enforcement officers to check the legal presence of anyone on the street. That rule was later determined to be too costly to enforce, and now legal presence is checked at a courthouse in Manassas after someone has been charged with a crime.

Officials in Prince William field a lawsuit against immigration and customs enforcement in an effort to see the data collected from arrestees that was later turned over federal authorities. The lawsuit is still pending.

Supporters of the program said 287g took violent criminals off streets. Opponents of the program said local governments should not be able to check immigration status, and they feared the program would deter crime victims from talking with police.

Funding for 287g Immigration Program in Question - PotomacLocal.com

By: Keith Walker | InsideNova
Published: October 16, 2012
Updated: October 16, 2012 - 5:55 PM
9 comments

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. --

Immigrations and Customs Enforcement is set to phase-out its 287(g) program and Prince William County chairman Corey A. Stewart, R-at large, isn’t happy about the development.

Under section 287(g) of Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, local jurisdictions are allowed to enforce immigration laws by helping to arrest and eventually deport criminal illegal immigrants.

In 2007, the Prince William board passed a resolution aimed at enforcing local illegal immigration laws after months of discussion with law enforcement, the board and Prince William residents.

Stewart said the resolution helped county officials deport more than 5,000 “criminal, illegal aliens” who were suspected “murder, rape, and other crimes.”

“I am personally am convinced that this program is instrumental in that reduction in crime,” Stewart said.

Stewart also credited the resolution with contributing a 47.8% drop in violent crime.

“A recent action by the Obama administration is, in my view, reprehensible,” Stewart said.

In a letter to Col. Pete Melitas, superintendent of the Prince William-Manassas Adult Detention Center, Gary Mead, of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement said that the agency was phasing out the 287(g) program because the program has “proven to be a less efficient means of identifying priority individuals subject to removal compared to other law enforcement programs.”

Similar letters to the Prince William Sheriff’s Office and the Prince William County Police Department advised that the 287(g) programs would be extended until Dec. 31.

Stewart called the 287(g) program the “heart of county’s law in dealing with immigration enforcement efforts.”

“If someone commits a crime and they’re here illegally, in my view, they should be deported,” Stewart said.

Stewart said the Department of Homeland Security would be replacing the 287(g) program with the Secure Communities program, which the department’s website describes as a “simple and common sense way to carry out ICE's priorities.”

According to the website at Secure Communities, the FBI and ICE will work together with an “already-existing federal information-sharing partnership,” to help identify criminal illegal aliens “without imposing new or additional requirements on state and local law enforcement.”

Stewart berated the Secure Communities Program.

“ICE is defending its move to eliminate this program by saying the Secure Communities program is an alternative. However the Secure Communities is not as robust in determining legal status. It does not allow our local law enforcement to determine immigration status,” Stewart said.

Stewart went on to say that the number of illegal immigrants identified by law enforcement officials would decrease by 40 percent under the new program.

According to a county press release, the county filed a law suit against the department and ICE, under the Freedom of Information Act, seeking information on any action taken against people the county turned over to the federal government since 2007. The request is pending and county officials have not received further information.

According ICE spokeswoman Danielle Bennett said the decision to evaluate the 287(g) program was made within the DHS and ICE.

“In light of the nation-wide activation of the Secure Communities program and the focus on other ICE enforcement programs, the FY 2013 budget reduces the 287(g) task force program by $17 million. The Secure Communities screening process, coupled with federal officers, is more consistent, efficient and cost effective in identifying and removing criminal and other priority aliens.

To implement this reduction, ICE is conducting a national review of all 287(g) task force agreements. In order to complete this review, ICE has notified the law enforcement agencies with expiring 287(g) agreements that ICE is extending these agreements until the end of the calendar year,” Bennett wrote in a m email to the News & Messenger and InsideNova.com.

ICE phasing out Prince William's illegal immigration program | InsideNova