Thread: Federal warrants issued for undocumented Travis Co. inmates

by CBS Austin
Monday, February 6th 2017

Immigration agents are now issuing federal arrest warrants for people booked into the Travis County jail who are suspected of being in the U.S. illegally.

The move will force Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez to hold the inmates without a detainer.

It comes in response to her newly announced sanctuary policy -- which holds suspects only if they were charged with certain violent crimes, or if agents obtained an arrest warrant.

Daryl Fields, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office, released the following statement Monday evening:

"In coordination with ICE, our office is evaluating detainees in the jail for federal prosecution at an earlier stage. In the past, we might review them after state proceedings concluded and after they went into ICE custody. We are now reviewing them before the state has completed their proceedings so we don't have to rely on the administrative hold. The coordination has not changed the nature of our assessment, simply the timing."

The new detainer policy for Travis County went into effect February 1, and 37 people suspected of being undocumented were able to bond out of the jail. They're inmates that were previously ineligible for bond because they were believed to be undocumented. However, now if they meet the right criteria they don't have to sit in jail until their trial date.

However, just because an inmate's ICE detainer is lifted that doesn't mean they'll get out of jail on bond without being scrutinized. Before bond is issued, an inmate must meet long list of conditions related to their flight risk and if they're likely to return for their court date.

According to Travis County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Kristen Dark, these new federal warrants are what Sheriff Hernandez has asked for -- if the sheriff's office is given a warrant of arrest, they will enforce it, and that's exactly what they're doing.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's office has pulled criminal justice grants it usually administers to the county due to the policy. The cut amounts to about $1.5 million.

http://keyetv.com/news/local/federal...vis-co-inmates

Daryl Fields, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office, released the following statement Monday evening:

"In coordination with ICE, our office is evaluating detainees in the jail for federal prosecution at an earlier stage. In the past, we might review them after state proceedings concluded and after they went into ICE custody. We are now reviewing them before the state has completed their proceedings so we don't have to rely on the administrative hold. The coordination has not changed the nature of our assessment, simply the timing."

Cool! GO GET 'EM!!