Illegals get DWI treatment in North Carolina

[Brian503a]

http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/493133.html

Published: Oct 01, 2006 12:30 AM
Modified: Oct 01, 2006 02:58 AM


Illegals get DWI treatment


Gary L. Wright and Melissa Manware, The Charlotte Observer
CHARLOTTE - Mecklenburg's DWI treatment court is accepting illegal immigrants, and some of them may be avoiding deportation because of it.
Robert Guy, who heads North Carolina's probation program, said probation officers have overheard Mecklenburg's DWI treatment court officials talk about sending suspected illegal immigrants to treatment centers, so they don't go to jail and have their immigration status checked.

"These people need to be in jail and deported," Guy said. "I'm not going to tolerate this."

The DWI treatment court is an intense, 12-month voluntary program for people convicted of drunken driving at least twice. It requires substance abuse treatment, drug testing and frequent meetings with a judge, probation officer and case coordinator.

Todd Nuccio, Mecklenburg's trial court administrator, and Janeanne Tourtellott, the drug treatment court administrator, said DWI treatment court officials are not shielding illegal immigrants from deportation.

"There have been no discussions or concerted plan to shield illegal immigrants from incarceration and deportation," Nuccio said. Tourtellott said the six-year-old DWI treatment court has about 80 participants and a 55 percent graduation rate.

She said about 40 percent of the participants are Latino. She doesn't know how many are illegal immigrants.

Nuccio and Tourtellott said a small number of illegal immigrants could be avoiding deportation through the program but court administrators aren't helping them do it. They said the program accepts every eligible offender, regardless of legal status.

Nuccio says the DWI court focuses on treating repeat offenders. They don't even inquire about citizenship. "Whether they are legal or not, the reason we put them in DWI court is because it reduces recidivism, costs less and improves public safety," he said. "If the judge sentences them to the program, we service them."

In a memo last week, Guy, director of the N.C. Department of Correction's division of community corrections, directed his probation officers in Charlotte to report any illegal immigrants to federal immigration officials.

"It is our responsibility," Guy wrote, "to report illegal immigrants to the proper federal authorities if we have knowledge or reasonable suspicion of their illegal status."

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[Brian503a]

This looks like a longer version of the article.

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/n ... 652418.htm

Posted on Sun, Oct. 01, 2006

OBSERVER EXCLUSIVE

Immigration debate hits court
DWI treatment program used to skirt deportation, probation chief told
GARY L. WRIGHT AND MELISSA MANWARE
gwright@charlotteobserver.commmanware@charlotteobserver.com

Mecklenburg's DWI treatment court is accepting illegal immigrants and some of them may be avoiding deportation because of it.

Robert Guy, who heads North Carolina's probation program, said probation officers have overheard Mecklenburg's DWI treatment court officials talk about sending suspected illegal immigrants to treatment centers, so they don't go to jail and have their immigration status checked.

"These people need to be in jail and deported," Guy said. "I'm not going to tolerate this.

"I'm hellbent that these people need to be deported. If they're illegal, they need to be punished and deported."

The DWI treatment court is an intense, 12-month voluntary program for people convicted of drunken driving at least twice. It requires substance abuse treatment, drug testing and frequent meetings with a judge, probation officer and case coordinator.

Todd Nuccio, Mecklenburg's trial court administrator, and Janeanne Tourtellott, the drug treatment court administrator, said DWI treatment court officials are not shielding illegal immigrants from deportation.

"There have been no discussions or concerted plan to shield illegal immigrants from incarceration and deportation," Nuccio said.

Tourtellott said the six-year-old DWI treatment court has about 80 participants and a 55 percent graduation rate.

She said about 40 percent of the participants are Latino. She doesn't know how many are illegal immigrants.

Nuccio and Tourtellott said a small number of illegal immigrants could be avoiding deportation through the program, but court administrators aren't helping them do it. They said the program accepts every eligible offender, regardless of legal status.

Nuccio says the DWI court focuses on treating repeat offenders. They don't even inquire about citizenship.

"Whether they are legal or not, the reason we put them in DWI court is because it reduces recidivism, costs less and improves public safety," he said.

"We don't inquire about their citizenship status. We don't ask about ethnicity. We don't ask about gender. We don't ask about race. If the judge sentences them to the program, we service them."

In a memo last week, Guy, director of the N.C. Department of Correction's division of community corrections, directed his probation officers in Charlotte to report any illegal immigrants to federal immigration officials.

"The Division of Community Corrections does not support or condone illegal immigrants under our supervision...," Guy wrote. "It is our responsibility to report illegal immigrants to the proper federal authorities if we have knowledge or reasonable suspicion of their illegal status."

Sheriff's program

Last spring, Mecklenburg Sheriff Jim Pendergraph unveiled a new enforcement system in which deputies check the residency status of every foreign-born person brought to the county jail on criminal charges. Since then, DWI offenders eligible for treatment court must do any required jail time first. Nuccio said court administrators don't want to spend time and money on a person only to later have them deported.Illegal immigrants arrested for DWI before the sheriff began his immigration enforcement program can avoid the status check. But the loophole will close soon because everyone arrested in Mecklenburg County and born outside the United States now faces a check of their legal status.

Pendergraph is outraged that illegal immigrants may be avoiding deportation.

"We've got court officials trying to circumvent a system that took a lot of effort and resources to identify people who are in this country illegally and committing crimes and have them removed," Pendergraph said.

"All these defendants have been convicted of DWI -- some multiple times. We shouldn't have any hesitancy identifying illegal immigrants driving on our roads drunk and getting them out of our country."

Guy said he gave Mecklenburg's sheriff the names of five Hispanic men who were convicted of DWI and are in Mecklenburg's DWI treatment court.

Two of the men, Guy said, have been sent to a drug treatment facility in Sampson County. He said the other three are on a waiting list to be admitted to the out-of-county treatment facility.

The sheriff says all five men are illegal immigrants and were arrested before his enforcement program began. Two of the Hispanic men have been convicted of DWI three times, according to court records.

Tourtellott could not immediately say whether the treatment court sent the men to the treatment facility. She said the court team -- a judge, prosecutor, probation officer, case coordinator and treatment providers -- does send some participants for inpatient treatment if they violate the program's rules and that the Sampson County center, called Harvest House, is where native Spanish speakers would be sent. She said it is the only bilingual and bicultural treatment facility in North Carolina.

`Zero tolerance' ordered

Defendants who go through the DWI court program are required to pay the cost of their treatment, though they may qualify for financial assistance. Exact figures weren't available Friday.

Guy said he intends to contact federal immigration officials and inform them what's happening in Charlotte's DWI treatment court. He also has written a memo to probation officers across the state to let them know there will be "zero tolerance" when it comes to illegal immigrants.

"If probation officers find out someone is illegal, they're going to report them to immigration authorities so they can take appropriate action," Guy said.

Jeff Jordan, who heads U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in North Carolina, said Friday he plans to meet with state probation officials to work out a system to efficiently report illegal immigrants across the state.

Pendergraph thinks it's a waste of resources to help illegal immigrants get treatment.

"It's no secret that there are limited resources to deal with alcohol and drug abuse," the sheriff said. "Why would we spend a dime on an illegal immigrant who has been convicted of DWI?

"Why wouldn't we use the limited resources we have for U.S. citizens who need the treatment?"

Nuccio said treatment courts are a sentencing option for judges whether the defendants are illegal or not -- and its job is not to ferret out illegal immigrants and send them home.

"We're running a drug treatment court program," he said. "We're providing services to people who have been sentenced to the program. We're doing what we're supposed to be doing." Observer Exclusive

What is Treatment Court?

Mecklenburg's DWI treatment court, established in 2000, has won national recognition. It requires repeat DWI offenders to undergo treatment and drug testing. In 2004, the National Drug Court Institute selected Mecklenburg's DWI treatment court as a model to host training for jurisdictions across the country planning to set up similar courts.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gary L. Wright

[dragons5]

i agree with guy

[had_enuf]

i agree with guy

Me, too. Wonder if he'd consider running for office.

[ALIPAC]

You have GOT TO BE FREAKIN KIDDING ME! Our tax dollars at work aiding and abetting illegal aliens!

W

[jimpasz]

Do the offenders pay for this program or the taxpayer?

Looks like just another government program to employ social workers
and to let repeat law breakers off the hook.

Alcoholics being sent to AA meetings By the courts cost taxpayers nothing and has
been the most successful treatment venue to date.

Some areas have meetings in spanish

[MW]

She said about 40 percent of the participants are Latino. She doesn't know how many are illegal immigrants.

Perhaps you should find out. How about a little responsibility and accountability in regards to American citizen taxpayer dollars. This is especially disturbing:

Defendants who go through the DWI court program are required to pay the cost of their treatment, though they may qualify for financial assistance. Exact figures weren't available Friday.

I think they meant to say exact figures aren't available to the general public.