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    Arkansas - Washington County Sheriff says immigration law enforcement will continue

    By Doug Thompson
    Posted: August 16, 2017 at 1:07 a.m.

    FAYETTEVILLE -- The Washington County Sheriff's Office will enforce the law and cooperate with other agencies in doing so, Sheriff Tim Helder told about 60 people who oppose participation in a federal immigration enforcement program.

    Both the Benton and Washington county sheriff's offices participate in the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency's program. Both check the immigration status of those taken into custody who are accused of crimes and notify the federal agency of anyone illegally in the country.

    The two offices referred more than 500 to the agency from 2008 through 2015, according to the Center for Immigration Studies, a national group supporting increased immigration restrictions.

    Helder hosted a public hearing Tuesday. Federal law requires the annual hearing for departments in the 287(g) program. Immigration law is under the jurisdiction of the federal government, but local agencies can choose to participate.

    All of those who spoke asked the sheriff and a representative from the Benton County Sheriff's Office to end their participation.

    Knowing the sheriffs cooperate with immigration officials has a chilling effect on crime victims, opponents of the program said. A victim who has reason to fear being deported or that a member of his family may be deported won't report a crime when deputies would be involved, opponents said.

    Spokesmen for the federal agency who were at the meeting said federal law has protections for crime victims in those circumstances. Opponents countered victims won't take the risk.

    "I have two godsons whose parents feel they cannot call 911 if there is an emergency or if they are a victims of a crime because they know you are cooperating," said Klint Ericson of Bentonville.

    Both sheriffs' offices and ICE officials assured the audience the law protects immigrants who report crimes or cooperate in the investigations of crimes. They described such provisions, including the process for issuing a special visa. James Baugher, the national 287(g) program manager for ICE, attended the meeting. He said he has never seen a visa denied for the victim of a crime who could have been deported.

    "That's a lot of legalese to tell a battered woman," Ericson replied.

    Law enforcement officials noted there are special provisions for victims of domestic abuse.

    There's no effort to target or encourage participation of local law enforcement agencies in areas with high populations of any demographic group, Baugher also said in response to a question by Blanca Estevez.

    Estevez is a spokeswoman for Ozark Indivisible, a group opposing the Trump Administration's immigration policies. She asked why the two sheriffs' offices with the highest populations of "people of color" are the only two law enforcement agencies in Arkansas to participate in the program.

    Because they volunteered, Baugher replied.

    "There is not a racial nexus to what we do," he said, and applications to get in the program are turned down when any bias is suspected, most recently in a county in Oklahoma.

    Edwin Williams of Fayetteville told the panel he believes their intentions are good, but the practice has problems.

    "I honor every one of you and what you are trying to do, but feel you are supporting a system and a program that is deeply flawed. Our immigration policy is broken and is not uniformly applied. I know people who are in this country illegally and never get asked about it because they are white," Williams said.

    Michel Rangel, field manager for Arkansas United Community Coalition, a nonprofit immigrant assistance group, said people have been arrested on false allegations made to the sheriff's office, then deported when their immigration status is checked.

    "I know a family who did not go to their son's graduation at the University of Arkansas because they were afraid of being deported," she said.

    In another case, a Rogers man was in an automobile accident and wound up being deported, according to Rangel. Rangel said she didn't have the family's permission to share names.

    Mark Eastburn, an opponent of immigration law who lives in Eureka Springs, said the people most affected by the program didn't even come to Tuesday's public hearing, which is supposed to review how the program is working. Eastburn noted Tuesday's audience was largely non-Hispanic.

    The meeting set a record, by far, for participation in such meetings in Northwest Arkansas, said Elvira Acuna, program manager for 287(g) in Arkansas for ICE.

    "I've been at these meetings in each of the last three years," Acuna said. "At the one last year, we had one person show up, who was a reporter."

    Helder also made note of how the program hasn't been controversial to date, saying Tuesday's crowd was by far the largest he has seen in 10 years of such meetings. He said the program started out of political pressure from constituents to do more to stop illegal immigration. Now, under the current political climate, pressure is being applied to do less.

    "I realize there are at least 50 people who oppose this, but, if we stop, we could fill Bud Walton arena with people wanting it who are just as passionate as you are," Helder said, referring to the University of Arkansas' basketball arena.

    http://www.nwaonline.com/news/2017/a...says-immigrat/
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    It makes no sense that people who complain they and other illegals are afraid to report crimes to LE, therefore, criminals should be protected and allowed to live among them.

    Illegals, children included, are quite often the victims of these criminals as they are victims of opportunity. They are handy. So the answer is to allow the criminals to continue to prey on them?

    It just doesn't make sense.

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