4 R.I. Troopers to Receive ICE Training

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4 R.I. troopers to receive ICE training

01:00 AM EST on Friday, November 20, 2009

By Karen Lee Ziner

Journal Staff Writer

Four Rhode Island state troopers will be deputized with immigration powers by early 2010, nearly two years after Governor Carcieri sought the state-federal partnership, and during the waning months of his administration.

Carcieri’s directive that state police and corrections authorities pursue the controversial, so-called 287(g) program is a linchpin of his March 2008 executive order cracking down on illegal immigration.

By a Memorandum of Agreement signed last month with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the four troopers must pass federal background checks before their 25-day training sessions in January and February in South Carolina.

If all goes well, the program will begin after the first two troopers finish training in January and technology is installed, said Capt. David Neill, department spokesman. ICE spokesman Michael Gilhooly said a ranking ICE field manager makes the final determination.

Training will include enforcement of federal immigration laws and policies, the scope of powers pursuant to the agreement and civil-rights and civil-liberties practices. The officers must also pass an exam before they can be certified.

State police Col. Brendan P. Doherty has said the focus “will be on those illegal aliens who are engaged in criminal activity.” The agreement lists major drug offenses and/or violent offenses such as murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery and kidnapping, as priorities.

Meanwhile, state Corrections Department Director A.T. Wall said he will raise concerns about “staffing, training and infrastructure” with the governor’s office, before he signs a similar 287(g) agreement with immigration authorities. A meeting is scheduled for Nov. 30.

The Corrections Department agreement would help speed deportations of illegal immigrants with criminal records who are in state custody.

Though he has “every expectation” the agreement will go forward, Wall said he only recently got a sense of how much manpower would be required. That could necessitate reconfiguration of the staff — or even new hires.

Wall declined comment on whether the state hiring freeze would preclude an agreement, should more staff be required.

But David Mellon, president of the Rhode Island Brotherhood of Correctional Officers, said, “If the governor’s office says it’s a new position, and we have a hiring freeze, I would imagine we wouldn’t enter into an agreement with ICE, and that would be it. Where it goes from there — the way the economic situation is, I don’t know.”

Mellon said the union has voiced its concerns to Wall about workers’ compensation and other contractual issues.

Carcieri spokeswoman Amy Kempe said, “The governor is confident that DOC and ICE will move forward once the issues of staffing, training and infrastructure are finalized.”

The state police agreement is one of 55 currently signed. As of August, another 12 agreements — including the Rhode Island Corrections Department — were awaiting approval.

Controversy and criticism by civil and human rights organizations prompted Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano this fall to standardize the Memorandums of Agreement by which 287(g) operates. In July, the Rhode Island Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union and other civil-rights and community organizations urged federal authorities to reject the state police request for a 287(g) partnership, citing a “lengthy history of alleged racial profiling by state police.”

ICE responded by saying the new agreements strengthen civil rights protections and provide for a complaint process.

TO READ THE Rhode Island State Police Memorandum of Agreement, see http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/factsheets/section287_g.htm (scroll down to Rhode Island State Police).

kziner@projo.com

http://www.projo.com/news/content/immigration_order_11-20-09_EHGG6UO_v47.3a65b58.html