There is a video at the link also.

http://www.news14charlotte.com/content/ ... 66&SecID=2

Immigration program hits milestone
Updated: 11/27/2006 12:40 PM
By: Johnell Johnson, News 14 Carolina


CHARLOTTE -- Rep. Sue Myrick, R-N.C., and Julie Myers, head of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, joined Sheriff Jim Pendergraph on Monday for the announcement of a milestone in Mecklenburg County.

Since its inception earlier this year, the county’s federally-funded program that gave a group of deputies the ability to detain and remove illegal immigrants who go through the jail system has led to nearly 1,000 offenders being identified and charged.


Since its inception earlier this year, the program has led to nearly 1,000 offenders being identified and charged.
Once an offender is identified as illegal through the federal database, Pendergraph says the deportation process begins. Though the system will only be able to track those who have committed crimes, the sheriff says it is a step in the right direction.

“If they don’t get arrested, they can work over there at the courthouse until they’re caught doing something wrong,” he said. “If they’re arrested for violating state or federal laws, then I don’t have any sympathy for them.”

Out of the 930 illegal immigrants that have been identified, 120 have already been deported. And thanks to that success, Pendergraph says he is now looking to expand the program.