Thread: TN-Revision does little to quiet 287(g) debate

Revision does little to quiet 287(g) debate
Sunday, October 25, 2009 at 10:45pm
By Kyle Swenson

Armed with old arguments and new data, Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall set out last week to sell Nashville again on the controversial 287(g) program.

Following a federal review of the program, a revised version of 287(g) was up for Metro Council approval last Tuesday. The occasion reignited the debates that have followed the county's immigrant screening program since 2007.

However, as the votes last week showed, Council has swung its support firmly behind the program and Sheriff Hall. After a unanimous vote for approval from the Public Safety Committee, Council passed the revised version of the program with a 34 -3 vote.

To supporters, approval was an affirmation of the program's goals. But for critics, the issue is far from over.

Attorney and Conexion Americas board member David Esquivel recapped his criticism of the Nashville program in an interview with The City Paper. Conexion's mission is to help Latino families succeed socially and economically by promoting their integration into the Middle Tennessee community.

Esquivel, citing a U.S. Government Accountability Office study issued earlier this year, says the local program is out of step with the underlying goals of 287(g).

But according to Hall, the Sheriff's Office setup is completely in line with what the Obama Administration would like to see across the country. More than 5,000 individuals have been identified as illegal immigrants in Nashville because of 287(g).

Esquivel and other critics take particular issue with the sheriff's decision to process both misdemeanor and felon offenders through 287(g) screening. The program's goal is to improve public safety by sweeping up violent criminals and felons, they say, but instead of focusing on this group, 287(g) processes minor offenders who pose no immediate threat to the community.

“The reality of the program here is that the vast majority of people who are being identified by this program have committed misdemeanors,â€

[quote]Hall defends the decision to screen every individual passing through the jail, maintaining the program is a preventative protection for the community.

“The problem with the way the system was working three years ago was it only focused on a dangerous felony offender once that event occurred, which was way too late to improve the public safety of our community,â€