Thread: Ark. immigration task force not yet ready

NW Ark. immigration task force not yet ready, officials say





ROGERS, Ark. - Five weeks of training in Boston with the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency wasn't enough to qualify 19 officers from the Rogers and Springdale police departments and the Benton and Washington county sheriff's offices to begin helping federal authorities enforce immigration laws, local officials say.

The training isn't complete, Rogers Police Chief Steve Helms said, because the officers ran out of time.

But even after they get more hands-on training _ much of it in the use of an ICE identification system _ their duties as city officers and county deputies apparently won't change much.

Helms said the program involving local officers in immigration matters involves nothing different from what his department does now, except that officers will have the ability to obtain information from a federal database. Rogers received three identification systems, which include computers, monitors with a digital camera, a fingerprinting box, a scanner for fingerprint cards, and a printer, Helms said.

Lack of training isn't the only thing holding up operations of what has been dubbed the Northwest Arkansas Illegal Immigration Criminal Apprehension Task Force.

The local agencies haven't yet received from ICE the memorandums of agreement on the program that are needed before it can begin operating. The memorandums define the responsibilities of each agency involved in the task force.

Both Helms and Benton County Sheriff Keith Ferguson said that, until the memorandum is received, job descriptions and how some processes will work is not known. Ferguson said that, without the memorandum, his deputies will continue what they've been doing regarding documentation of illegal immigrants and gang members.

Ferguson said the only benefit he sees to the program is speeding up the process of identifying illegal immigrants.

Information from: The Morning News, http://www.nwaonline.net/

A service of the Associated Press(AP)
http://www.pbcommercial.com/articles/20 ... rcvdg0.txt

ICE is waiting for the yea vote on the Dream Act.