Thread: Frederick Co., MD: Sheriff gives bottom-line message on immi

Comments are being left at the source link.
~~

Sheriff gives bottom-line message on immigration
June 14, 2008 - 10:03am

If you are an immigrant in the country illegally and you commit a crime, you are not welcome in Frederick County.

That was the bottom-line message Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins gave Thursday during a talk to a couple dozen members of the Republican Club of Frederick County and others at Caf? 611.

Jenkins spoke at length about a program the Sheriff's Office entered into in late February with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The program, known as 287(g), deputized 26 sheriff's office deputies and corrections officers to enforce federal immigration laws. It is the first of its kind in Maryland.

The agreement allows deputies to arrest, detain and begin deportation proceedings for unauthorized immigrants who have committed an arrestable offense.

He argued that by doing so, Frederick County has taken a proactive stance to protect the homeland while cracking down on gangs, drugs and seasoned criminals who should not be here in the first place.

"We're well on our way to tackling the problem the right way," he said.

Details

Jenkins has repeatedly said the program will cost county taxpayers nothing, in terms of training for officers in immigration law or housing detainees.

After ICE takes custody of detainees, the agency pays the detention center $83 per night to house them, he said.

Jenkins said the average costs to the county to house, feed and provide medical screening for a detainee is about $8 per day. To date, 48 people have been detained at the Frederick County Adult Detention Center under the program, five of whom have been deported, he said.

Most of those were arrested for driving offenses, Jenkins said. Other offenses included violent crimes and domestic crimes.

One detainee is a military-trained sniper from Nicaragua, Jenkins said.

"We have some bad people that were taken up," he said.

Despite claims by CASA de Maryland, the state's largest immigrant advocacy group, Jenkins said officers will not profile anyone based on their ethnicity.

The majority of detainees are Hispanic, he said, though there are also people from China, Kazakhstan and Pakistan.

Everyone passing through the Frederick County Adult Detention Center will go through the same screening process, he said. This means that other local police agencies bringing those they detain to the jail will benefit from the program.

Program supporters

Paul Curran, a member of the Republican Club, said he attended Jenkins' talk, in part, as a show of support for him and his efforts regarding 287(g).

Though he is still forming his opinion about the program, Curran said it seems reasonable.

Ed Whitbred, who was also in attendance, is a political activist, especially regarding illegal immigration issues.

Whitbred said he plans to travel to the border to join fellow members of Minutemen groups to "enforce the rule of law and stop illegal immigration." His strategy involves providing food and water to people crossing the border illegally, while notifying border patrol.

Whitbred said even if the border is made more secure, the real battle against the harmful effects of illegal immigration, including increased costs to taxpayers, a reduction in middle class jobs and an influx of criminals, has to take place on a local level.

Immigrants who are seeking nothing more than to support their families in America are also victims of a broken immigration system, Whitbred said. The federal government has been unwilling to address this problem, and Whitbred supports Jenkins' efforts.

"I hope to maintain this nation as a great nation," he said.


http://www.wtop.com/?nid=598&sid=1422004

[quote="jean"]Comments are being left at the source link.
~~

Sheriff gives bottom-line message on immigration
June 14, 2008 - 10:03am

If you are an immigrant in the country illegally and you commit a crime, you are not welcome in Frederick County.

That was the bottom-line message Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins gave Thursday during a talk to a couple dozen members of the Republican Club of Frederick County and others at Caf? 611.

Jenkins spoke at length about a program the Sheriff's Office entered into in late February with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The program, known as 287(g), deputized 26 sheriff's office deputies and corrections officers to enforce federal immigration laws. It is the first of its kind in Maryland.
*******
I feel so sorry for Maryland.

1. Small land area: Look it up on the map. Maryland is a relatively small state.

2. But it has always had an historically large black population.

3. It now has a growing non-black and non-white population.

4. Many of the growing non-black and non-white population are illegal aliens, and Maryland, compared to other states, has one of the fastest growing legal and illegal immigrant populations in the United States.

5. For instance, where do you think that Muslim immigrants, both legal and illegal, like to live when they arrive in the Washington area?

6. As we all know, these Muslim immigrants like the Virginia and Maryland suburbs.
As I understand it, they don't move into majority black Maryland suburbs, but they move into predominately Maryland suburbs.

7. How small-state Maryland can make room for its exploding legal and illegal immigrants---mostly non-whites--- in the next 20 years is beyond me.

8. Maryland's Eastern Shore: I guess it is only a matter of time before Maryland's tranquil Eastern Shore will see a growing increase in legal and illegal immigrants.

9. So, I often feel sorry for long-time American citizens of Maryland
who face this tremendous growing problem of legal and illegal immigrants who find Maryland a great place to live.