Deportation Hub Draws Mixed Reactions
Controversial deportation center to house criminal illegal immigrants
By Thai Ton
Epoch Times North Carolina Staff Mar 17, 2007


DURHAM, N.C.—A county in North Carolina wants to become a leader in the business of running deportation hubs for illegal immigrants. Alamance County is an enthusiastic participant in the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)'s program, and hopes to lead the way with a deportation center that not only detains but also processes and deports illegal immigrants who commit crimes.

The deportation hub has drawn mixed reactions, however. County officials say the program will reduce crime, while some immigrant rights advocates say it may lead to the targeting of immigrants, especially Hispanics.

The Department of Homeland Security created ICE in 2003. Under Section 287(g) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act passed in 1996, ICE is authorized to enter into agreement with state and local government and train designated officers to perform immigration law enforcement. Under the program, Alamance County law officers, like other trained officers in the country, can arrest and detain undocumented immigrants.

The point of controversy revolves on the post-arrest process. Now with a newly expanded jail as a deportation hub, Alamance County 287(g) officers can take immigration law enforcement one step further by identifying, processing, and deporting illegal immigrants who commit crimes.

The country is reimbursed $3.5 million by the federal government just in the first year if it keeps the jail full. The jail currently holds illegal immigrants, but none have been deported yet.


Demonstrators hold a vigil outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility April 19, 2006 in Broadview, Illinois. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)Randy Jones, spokesperson for the county's sheriff department, said that revenue generation was not an issue in starting the program and that it was a "sideline factor." "That's [the generation of funds] an irrelevant point for us because we're not in the moneymaking business," said Jones in a telephone interview. Jones said the county was actually approached and asked by ICE about their interest in the program because ICE needed a center in the southeast.

Proponents of the program say the center will help catch illegal immigrants with criminal records and reduce crime. Mecklenburg County, the first country in North Carolina to implement the 287(g) program, has found gang activity decreased.

Jones said that the program will target what he coined "criminal illegal immigrants" and assures, "If you're just an illegal immigrant, you're not going to come across this program." Jones said certain advocates are spreading the fear that the program will amount to a round up of illegal aliens and called it "a total falsehood."

Opponents are concerned about the focus on federal funds and are afraid the program may lead to the targeting of immigrants, especially the growing Latino community, in the county. They cite the new 240-bed expansion of the Alamance Country jail. Already one-and-a-half years overdue and $676,000 over budget, the expansion has been a hot topic in Alamance County.

Many in the county's Latino community appear to be nervous about the ICE program, fearing it would spark some kind of roundup of illegal aliens. Of the country's 140,000 residents, it is estimated that 15,000-30,000 are illegal immigrants, mostly Hispanics.

North Carolina had the fastest growing Hispanic population in the United States during the 1990s, and the latest Hispanic population is estimated at 517,000 (U.S. Census Bureau).

According to the Pew Hispanic Center, the state currently ranks eighth in the United States, with an estimated illegal immigrant population of 300,000—mostly from Mexico. That means roughly 65 percent of North Carolina's Latino population are illegal immigrants.

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