14 officers to get 287(g) training, power to determine immigration status in jails

Posted: 10/18/2010
Last Updated: 1 hour and 10 minutes ago
By: Mike Pelton

PHOENIX - Officers from the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office began training today as federal 287(g) immigration agents at a military base in North Carolina.

The 14 officers will undergo four weeks of 287(g) training, designed to help the federal government in determining the immigration status of criminal offenders who are booked into Maricopa County jails.

The Sheriff’s Office once had 160 officers trained as federal agents; however, 100 of them lost that certification in October of 2009.

Sheriff Arpaio’s office has investigated about 356,000 criminal offenders under the 287(g) program and found that more than 37,000 of those people were in the country illegally, sheriff's officials said.

http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_ph ... s-in-jails