County considers joining city’s illegal immigration initiatives
BY ROBERT MOORE, Tribune Staff Writer
Nov 21, 2007

The Morristown City Council will slow its immigration-enforcement initiative long enough for the Hamblen County Commission to decide whether or not it wants to jump on board, officials announced Tuesday evening.

Council member Mel Tucker is spearheading a multi-faceted drive to enforce existing immigration laws. Council members were scheduled to pass resolutions Tuesday to enlist the support of state and federal legislators.

Tucker wants state legislators to pass a law that would make it a felony to knowingly employ, transport or house illegal aliens. From Tennessee’s federal legislative delegation, he wants more funding for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The council member also wants to conduct research that would allow city government to combat an influx of undocumented Morristown residents.

What delayed action Tuesday was a convergence of thought that became apparent Monday when Morristown Mayor Sami Barile and City Administrator Jim Crumley attended a county commission meeting to promote a local sales-tax referendum.

Stancil Ford, county commission chair, said this morning he and other commissioners want to explore the possibility of piggybacking on the city’s immigration-enforcement efforts.

"We plan to take a serious look at this at the December committee meetings," Ford said. "We feel like there is a lot of merit in what they’re trying to do... There is some action that needs to be taken, and we as county commission are going to take a serious look at what can be done."

Hamblen County Mayor David Purkey also appears to be on board.

"I would be very supportive, along with the commission, to work with the city to pursue opportunities," Purkey said this morning. "Chief Tucker is a friend of mine and having served in law enforcement as he did, I pay a lot of attention to what he says, and there is nothing that he says that I disagree with."

In addition to serving as an FBI agent, Tucker was chief of the Morristown, Asheville (N.C.) and Tallahassee (Fla.) police departments. Tucker emphasized that he’s taking this action on his own, and he is not affiliated with any anti-illegal immigration group.

Tucker also seeks to expand local law enforcement powers by having them certified to perform certain duties of federal immigration officers. His initial effort was thwarted, in part, because ICE is reserving the limited training spots for agencies that operate a jail.

His new idea is to have Hamblen County Sheriff Esco Jarnagin deputize five MPD officers, then send them to school with five county corrections officers. Tucker has proposed that city government bear the cost of the immigration training for both city officers and county deputies.

City council gave the go-ahead Tuesday to proceed with the initiative, but it won’t happen immediately. The city administrator says there is an eight-month waiting list for I.C.E. training.

If this proposed end-run around the I.C.E. guidelines works, the MPD officers would be able to process criminal aliens into a federal database and initiate deportation proceedings without relying on a federal agent.

The officers who complete the school also could document alleged illegal immigrants they encounter during the course of routine police work and forward their names to I.C.E., which could act on the information.

The officers would not have the authority to conduct immigration-related raids on businesses or residences.

"I think it’s our responsibility as a legislative and political body to be looking at this problem," Tucker said earlier this month. "When I see and watch the news and every agency around the country says, ‘Why, that’s not my problem, that’s the federal government’s problem’... Well, you know, it’s our problem because it’s affecting us, in my opinion."

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