Federal/Local 287(g) Partnerships Work
Tuesday, August 19, 2008, 7:14 AM

Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania state legislators attending the annual Quad State Legislative conference learned about why the 287(g) program, which trains local law enforcement officers to engage in immigration enforcement activities and enables them to initiate deportation proceedings for illegal aliens, is a fast-growing success.

Andrew Kondisko, the ICE resident Agent-in-Charge for Harrisonburg, Virginia, discussed some of the cooperative activities that are occurring in all four states with respect to criminal illegal aliens, the Northern Virginia Daily reports. He noted that the 287(g) program has already worked out well for local governments that have signed on, and that some initial concerns have proven to be unfounded, e.g., that 287(g) would make Hispanic and immigrant communities less likely to cooperate with police. The Daily reports Kondisko as saying, “I think these are people that anyone would want to get off the street, particularly the community where they're at.â€