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Sheriff's deputies to screen for illegals among jail inmates
TIM WHITMIRE
Associated Press
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Sheriff's deputies will match the names of inmates entering North Carolina's largest jail against a federal database of illegal immigrants starting later this year, Mecklenburg Sheriff Jim Pendergraph and Rep. Sue Myrick announced Monday.
Ten deputies trained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security will also interview foreign nationals as they enter the jail to help learn whether the detainees have had prior contact with the federal immigration system.
Officials say they hope the change will allow fewer illegal immigrants with criminal histories to be set free with a promise to appear in court, instead of being held for deportation.
"For too long, illegal aliens have really just flaunted the law," said Myrick, R-Charlotte. "We've got the good old catch-and-release program, and local authorities can't do anything, so you're back on the street again."
Federal and local officials will share costs of the program, which begins next month with the deputies going to Washington next month to learn how to interview, process and document illegal aliens and work with ICE to deport them once any prison terms have been served, Pendergraph said.
People arrested on criminal charges without documentation of U.S. citizenship will have fingerprints and other identifying characteristics checked against the federal database. For those identified within the system, a past criminal record could become the basis for tougher bond conditions or deportation, Pendergraph said. Those without a database record will have their information entered, allowing future tracking.
Local police are not involved in the initiative, Pendergraph said, and sheriff's deputies will not search the community for illegal immigrants.
Jeffrey S. Jordan, the Charlotte-based special agent in charge of North Carolina for ICE, said the initiative - which parallels programs already in use in Alabama and Florida and in the planning stage in Arizona and the Los Angeles area - should reduce the number of criminal illegal immigrants set free.
"One hundred percent of those who need to be detained will be detained in the Mecklenburg County Jail," he said. "There won't be any slipping through the cracks."
Immigration has been a hot topic in North Carolina in recent months as the state's Hispanic population continues to swell. Several high-profile cases have made headlines in the Charlotte area.
Last summer, a Mexican immigrant was charged in a drunken driving accident in coastal Brunswick County that killed a Gaston County teacher; in November, a Mexican native was charged with driving drunk during a fatal head-on collision that killed a University of North Carolina at Charlotte student.
Both drivers had faced similar charges in the past while in the country illegally but either were not deported or returned to the United States after being sent out of the country.
Myrick, a former Charlotte mayor and potential gubernatorial candidate in 2008, has spoken out in recent months about the need for tighter border controls and estimates North Carolina's illegal immigrant population at 300,000 and climbing.
She and Pendergraph both said local authorities are doing all they can, but that it's up President Bush and Congress to deal with the larger problem. Myrick noted that the Senate is due to take up a bill in March to increase penalties for businesses that hire illegal workers. She and other House members approved a similar bill in December.
"This is not the resolution to all our illegal immigration problems," Pendergraph said of Monday's announcement. "Until Congress and the president do something to tighten our border security, we're going to be fighting a battle I'm not sure we alone can win."
Many expect immigration to be a key issue in this year's midterm election. Bay Buchanan, brother of former presidential candidate Pat Buchanan, appeared at a pair of immigration reform events last week in Charlotte and Winston-Salem, and the Charlotte event drew large numbers of Latinos and immigration supporters who protested Buchanan's message. _________________ Need Law Enforcement Information? Click here for the Alipac Action Panel
Illegal Immigration
The trained deputies will be
able to refer to a federal database
of illegal immigrants.
Local Impact
Schools and hospitals don't expect
too much relief from the program that
was announced Monday.
Deputies will crack down on illegals
Updated: 2/6/2006 1:27:57 PM
By: Adam Shub and Annette Newell, News 14 Carolina
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A federally funded program will
train 10 sheriff's deputies in Mecklenburg County, giving them more power to identify, detain and remove illegal immigrants who go through the jail system.
After the four-week course, the deputies will be certified immigration officers.
"We, as local officials, can sit around and wring our hands and say, 'I wish someone would do something,'" Sheriff Jim Pendergraph said at a news conference Monday. "We're going to do something, and we're going to try and do our part."
The training comes from the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. It is the first such program to be implemented by a sheriff's office that is east of the Mississippi River.
"We hope it's going to stop (illegal immigration) from making a mockery of our criminal justice system," said U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick, R-N.C., who also attended Monday's news conference.
After a four-week course, 10 sheriff's deputies will be certified immigration officers.
Later this year, the deputies will be able to refer to a federal database of illegal immigrants.
"My office will have direct access to fingerprints, photographs and all demographic information regarding immigrants,” Pendergraph said. “We will also have certain enforcement powers regarding the detaining of illegal immigrants and their quick removal from our community."
The database will also allow the sheriff's office to spot repeat offenders and anyone who skipped out on an immigration detention hearing.
"This will ensure -- at least if they're processed through Mecklenburg County Jail -- that they will not be released into the community once they've served their time,” said Jeff Jordan of the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Some raised concerns that the program might unfairly target Hispanics, who make up the largest percentage of illegal immigrants.
Pendergraph said there will not be any unfair treatment.
"If you're not listed as having a birthplace in the United States, then you’re going to run through the system,” he said. “I don't care where you're from."
Myrick has been an outspoken supporter of stiffer immigration laws, and she said this program is a step in the right direction.
“I hope every county in North Carolina will see what (Pendergraph) is doing here and will take the initiative to do the same,” she said. “This is good use of your federal tax dollars.”
The program will cost $650,000 a year, but Myrick and Pendergraph said it isn't a cure-all. The state has an estimated 300,000 illegal immigrants, and only a small percentage of them commit crimes.
That said, Pendergraph does expect significant improvement.
"I don't think the average citizen realizes how much it costs the citizens of Mecklenburg County in criminal justice time, jail space," the sheriff said.
The deputies' training begins in March.
Schools, hospitals expect little to change
Ken Gjertsen, a member of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board, doesn't expect the program to offer much relief to a school system that is seeing more and more students take part in English as a Second Language.
"You would think that people who came here to commit crimes didn't bring their children to put them into school," he said. "So is that going to have an impact on our costs or who we're teaching? Probably not."
Gjertsen said the number of students in the ESL program is rising exponentially.
"Some portion of that is very likely related to illegal immigration," he said.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools cannot ask families if they are illegal immigrants, though.
Novant Health, which owns Presbyterian Hospital facilities, estimates that it spent more than $90 million on indigent and charity care in 2004.
"Someone's going to have to step in, with all the people we have coming into this country, the language barriers," said Dr. Bernard Gesing, who works in an emergency room.
But the company won't turn people away -- even those who cannot pay for their care.
Web Journalists: Mike Cartelli and Kyle Almond _________________ Need Law Enforcement Information? Click here for the Alipac Action Panel
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