Thread: N.C.: Wake jail to check immigration status

Wake jail to check immigration status
By Michael Biesecker, Staff Writer
Nov 5, 2007

RALEIGH -- Wake Sheriff Donnie Harrison will get a dozen new officers to check the immigration status of those coming into the county jail.
Wake commissioners voted 7-0 this afternoon to grant the sheriff the officers, who will coordinate with federal officials to deport those found to be in this country illegally.

The full-time positions will cost an estimated $539,341 per year, not including an additional $89,975 in initial costs to get the program running.

Four North Carolina counties have adopted such programs, and at least a dozen more are working to implement similar local measures to enforce federal immigration laws.

Harrison said that under ideal conditions, federal money would pay to perform what has historically been a federal responsibility. But in the absence of such a commitment of resources, he said the money would be a good investment by Wake County taxpayers.

"We have people who come to our jail who are committing crimes that we don't have a clue whether they're giving us the right name, especially if they were born outside the United States," Harrison said. "We've found out several times in some cases, once we did some research through [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] that they were not here legally."

A similar program in operation in Mecklenburg County since 2006 found that about 5 percent of those booked into jail were undocumented immigrants. Harrison expects a similar percentage to be identified in his jail once the operation is in place.

Immigrant advocates and civil rights groups oppose such programs, saying that they make immigrants less likely to report crimes or assist police in investigations. The increased focus on immigration status can also lead to profiling of Hispanics, critics say.

With the approval of commissioners, the Wake Sheriff's Office will now seek a formal agreement with federal authorities to allow county personnel to identify, process and detain immigration offenders.

Harrison said he hoped the program would be in place by the end of the current fiscal year, which ends in June.

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/761581.html

Great news.

Absolutely! Now only 96 North Carolina counties to go!

Looks like America is starting to wake up !!!
No punt intended

Immigrant advocates and civil rights groups oppose such programs, saying that they make immigrants less likely to report crimes or assist police in investigations. The increased focus on immigration status can also lead to profiling of Hispanics, critics say.

Thats the best they have left ???

WOOOO HOOOOO! I heard this on the news last night and couldn't believe my ears! Raleigh is considered a SANCTUARY City, I was just ecstatic to hear this.

I have sent countless email, letters and made lots of calls to both Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr on this very subject. My home is in a rural County that has been taken over by illegals, it's totally disgusting.

I hope Johnston County isn't far behind this push... I know the Sheriff is sick and tired of me calling! I'm not around a lot but when I do come home for some rest and relaxation (HAHAHAHA!) I would like to actually get some instead of Mexican rap music loud enough to rattle my windows, or watching them deal drugs right in their driveway. I won't even mention finding 10 trucks in one driveway plus several cars!

I know NC is famous for their road block "LICENSE CHECKS", I am completely with them on this if they start getting these people off the road! So Many innocent N.Carolinians have been killed by these drivers. Every time I read of a new incident I fire off a few more emails. I am happy to see they are going to be more pro-active, but I want MORE...LOL! I want to be reading about ICE raids...

Jail ID program stirs fear
Nov 9, 2007
Ruth Sheehan, Staff Writer
What kind of effect can we expect from Wake County's new program to identify and deport illegal immigrants from the local jail?
According to Sheriff Donnie Harrison, the answer is: fewer criminals. (And with every deportation, extra political points for him among the anti-immigrant crowd.)

But according to Hannah Gill, who is writing a book about immigration in nearby Alamance County, the true results are not quite so simple -- nor so rosy.

First off, she said, expect news of the crackdown to spread instantly among immigrants, both legal and illegal.

Second, expect their panic to be justified.

Gill, assistant director of the Institute for the Study of the Americas at UNC-Chapel Hill, has been gathering deportation stories since Alamance began a program similar to Wake's earlier this year.

Some of the stories sound like they're straight out of the civil rights era -- "Mississippi Burning," with an immigration twist:

The deputy who asks a worker for her "papers" while she's behind the counter at a tienda. She rightfully refuses; he waits outside until she climbs into her car, then stops her.

The man marked for deportation because his brother is a criminal and they share a last name and an apartment. Same difference, right?

The two men shot in a drive-by shooting who call the law, only to find themselves arrested and in line for deportation.

For Gill, immigration is the civil rights battlefield of our age. She acknowledges, as any thinking person would, that the current system of immigration and enforcement is deeply flawed.

But to Gill, that means that current laws are not working. She wants to see those laws fixed rather than seeing immigrants intimidated, harassed and bullied.

To her, this effort is an example of immigration enforcement being outsourced by the federal government. The problem is, this delicate function is being outsourced to a workforce inexperienced in the intricacies of immigration law.

Oh sure, the newly hired jailers will be trained under this program. But the entire sheriff's department reports to an elected official who, with every deportation, can expect to receive political attaboys from the anti-immigrant crowd.

Gill said that in Alamance County, the immigration checks and stream of deportations have destroyed the trust between law enforcement and the Latino community.

Harrison has promised that only immigrants arrested and booked into the county jail would be subject to immigration scrutiny. But, lest we forget Duke lacrosse, just because you've been arrested doesn't mean you're guilty. Either way, it's the same ticket back to Mexico or Central America.

In Alamance, Gill said, many immigrants -- legal and illegal -- are being apprehended for the offense of "Driving While Brown."

Whether all the tales are true or apocryphal is hard to tell. When there's alleged abuse of immigrants, who's going to come forward to complain?

Not people with limited English, frightened they'll be deported if they give their names.

Meantime, the pandering is easy and the political rewards are great.

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/766132.html

Where do these people get this stuff? LaRaza, probably.

I suppose by this person's reasoning, if any criminal calls the police, then the police should not arrest that criminal?

How do they say this with a straight face?

Or they truly on the payroll of the various organizations?

Or they simply trying to stir up trouble?

Or they so 'seminared out' - they can no longer think for themselves?

Another thought -

I wonder why counties don't draw on their retired people as volunteers for help in this.
This nation has a lot of retired people, who could handle the job of checking with immigration, checking the records, etc., the strictly clerical stuff.

These people would not have to actually ever come in contact with the inmates, but could be given training in checking the files, etc. It seems to me it would save taxpayers a lot of money and I am sure there would be many people willing to do this.

We are taught from day one
if you get all call for a cat in the treee and the house you go to has pot on the table somebody is going to jail and it aint the cat

Thanks Jean for that update! You can bet I'm going to be all over that like a cheap rug!

I can hardly wait to get my letter and email off to not only the Observer, but to Ms. Gil in particular!

As a resident of Alamance County and an avid supporter of our 287g program, I can assure you this slant on the issue is disgusting and will not be well received by our community. I won't waste my time commenting on the insinuations she has made other than to say that these people as a whole are not intimidated and in hiding, and they are not being chased through the streets by the police in an attempt to apprehend and deport them. Our largest city (Burlington) police force has been instructed by the Chief and Mayor NOT to implement 287g procedures and not to even inquire about legal status during police stops, effectively creating a sanctuary city at the very center of our county.

Looks like I'll be challenging Ms. Gil to a public debate soon, but I'm betting she will be deeper in hiding than any of the illegal aliens she supports!

I would also reccommend that no publisher waste time considering her "alleged" book because it won't sell around here! We like the truth in Alamance County, North Carolina and fictional portrayal of our community to the rest of the world is a slap in the face to our law-abiding citizenry.

I wonder if she is going to press in Spanish?

Yes, this is sad. They ought to do the right thing; pack up and go home. The invokation to mississipi burning is a lame emotional plea.

Cant wait to see the entire list of so called rights abuses. None of them listed in the article involved legal US citizens. Gill should have listed an incidence involving a citizen.

287(g) works and ought to be in every state, county, and town in NC. The sooner the better.