Thread: Ark: Feds Still Tight-Lipped On 287(g) Information

Feds Still Tight-Lipped On 287(g) Information
October 18, 2008
By Ron Wood
The Morning News

FAYETTEVILLE — Most of the illegal immigrants being arrested by a local immigration task force are being deported in civil proceedings, it appears based on federal criminal court records.

Shortly after the local immigration task force was formed, federal officials provided at least two news releases about arrests.

On Feb. 8, 2008, a release said 123 illegal immigrants were processed for removal by the local task force between December 2007 and January 2008. That release detailed offenses and names of six individuals.

On March 20, 2008, a release said the local task force had processed 139 illegal immigrants since the task force was formed and detailed why. Most had slipped into the country illegally but were initially arrested for various other offenses such has identity theft, property theft, weapons violations, driving while intoxicated and domestic violence. The release detailed the countries of origin, 75 percent were from Mexico, the others were from El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Peru.

Then the releases stopped.

Immigration officials now say they can’t or won’t provide information to the public about who they arrest, where they’re from, who arrested them or what crime they committed. Being in the country illegally is a civil offense and information regarding those arrests is protected from release under the Privacy Act of 1974, federal officials say.

Federal officials said the local Immigration Criminal Apprehension Task Force arrested 528 suspected illegal immigrants from its inception through June 25, 2008. The task force started sometime in September 2007. At the end of September 2008, the number provided was 703.

Officials at the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in New Orleans release the number of total arrests quarterly, but they don’t break down the numbers. For example, they won’t say if those 703 people were the number arrested in the entire federal Western District of Arkansas, which is about half the state, or only Northwest Arkansas. They also won’t break out the numbers for the Fayetteville Division, which includes Benton, Washington and Madison counties.

“This is the best information we have to offer now,â€

Immigration officials now say they can’t or won’t provide information to the public about who they arrest, where they’re from, who arrested them or what crime they committed. Being in the country illegally is a civil offense and information regarding those arrests is protected from release under the Privacy Act of 1974, federal officials say.

So went did undocumented immigrants get a right to privacy? This must be changed immediately. Political Correctness, what about the hunt for the National Mexico who has taken the 6 year American boy? It should be a felony to enter America illegally.

Where's the transparency?
Dixie

After the elections, we need to put together a lobby effort to ask Congress to support greater access to this kind of info for the American public and press.

W