Thread: NY- Orange sheriff takes pass on immigration detail

Orange sheriff takes pass on immigration detail



Orange County Sheriff Carl DuBois says his agency doesn't have enough money to partner with federal authorities on immigration cases.
Times Herald-Record/MICHELE HASKELL
By Oliver Mackson
Posted: July 29, 2009 - 2:00 AM

GOSHEN — If it wasn't for the rough economy, Orange County Sheriff Carl DuBois might be the first New York law enforcer to partner with the feds in enforcing U.S. immigration laws.

The sheriff's office already works closely with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; DuBois estimates that the feds have paid $4 million to the county since last year to house federal immigration prisoners. And since late 2008, Orange County has used the feds' services to make 142 checks on prisoner immigration status, compared with 10 such checks in the same time period by the Dutchess County Sheriff's Office.

But unlike his colleagues in Orange County, Calif., and Maricopa County, Ariz., to name just two, DuBois doesn't see his agency signing on to the partnership that's come to be known as "287(g)," for the section of the federal Immigration and Nationality Act that allows local cops, correction officers and sheriff's deputies to partner with agents from the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

"I just don't have a bottomless pit of deputies to go out and do this," said DuBois, pointing out that he's got at least two vacant positions that are going unfilled after retirements earlier this year.

"If there comes a point in time where we would have a couple of deputies to take this training and have some kind of relationship with other police departments, I'd love to do it."

Earlier this month, 11 law-enforcement agencies signed agreements to have their personnel trained by ICE and enforce federal immigration laws. Nationwide, 77 agencies are partnered with the feds. The closest agencies are the Monmouth County Sheriff's Office and the Morristown Police Department, both in central New Jersey.

Local agencies have to pay for the 287(g) training, and in an economy where vacancies aren't being filled, the cost of partnering with ICE can't be justified, DuBois said.

That's also the case in Warwick, where police Chief Thomas McGovern has two vacancies in his department of 37 full-time cops. Like DuBois, McGovern is looking forward to hearing what the feds have to offer at a training session next week.

Rep. John Hall's office is hosting the session in Goshen on Aug. 4; officials from ICE will offer pointers to local law enforcement agencies.

"I'm happy to go listen to this presentation and see what they're going to offer us," McGovern said, "but we don't deal with it (criminal suspects' immigration status) often enough that it would make sense to devote anybody to it."

Any relationship between local law enforcement and the feds is bound to draw scrutiny in the courts, said Alex Smith, a Middletown lawyer who specializes in civil rights issues.

"Illegal immigrants who commit separate crimes ought to be dealt with harshly — not because they're illegal immigrants, but because they're committing crimes," Smith said. "The problem I have is when you start criminalizing their very presence."

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"Illegal immigrants who commit separate crimes ought to be dealt with harshly — not because they're illegal immigrants, but because they're committing crimes," Smith said. "The problem I have is when you start criminalizing their very presence."

I see the problem as "It should be a criminal offense to be illegally in the USA!"

Smith must not be a very smart lawyer, as I thought being here illegally was a felony the last I knew?

partwerks wrote:

Smith must not be a very smart lawyer, as I thought being here illegally was a felony the last I knew?

Unfortunately, for those illegals that have not previously deported, it's not a felony.

While it should be a felony it is only a civil offence ( which by law is still a deportable offence) burt they say they don't have the resources...here in lies the problem and of course they want open borders so they will not enforce the laws as written, after the billions Americans have spent on HLS, all illegals should be deported.

NO MORE AMNESTYS!! WE KNOW YOU ARE NOT GOING TO ENFORCE THE LAWS!