Thread: FL: Collier deputies to undergo immigration training

Collier deputies to undergo immigration training

By news-press.com
Originally posted on August 21, 2007

http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll ... 002/NEWS01

Collier County Sheriff Don Hunter will hold a news conference to discuss the start of training for 25 members of the sheriff’s office who will be certified to act as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to detain illegal immigrants discovered in the county.

The conference starts at 9:30 a.m. and will be at Public Information Office at sheriff’s headquarters in the government complex.

Today is the beginning of the four-week training session.

Hunter will discuss the training, which will make the sheriff’s office the only agency in Southwest Florida and one of a few in the nation to have deputies trained to help immigration agents.

Lee County is still dragging their A55 on this. Time to wakeup and face reality or election could be rough for some elected officials.

I agree Dragonfire although I did read the Lee Co. Sheriff applied for the 287g program.

Do you know if this is true cause we sure need it Faaasst !!!

Story Updated: Aug 21, 2007

Probing Fake Documents
By WINK News

Collier County Sheriff Don Hunter announced a new plan to target illegal immigrants. He says the plan will save taxpayers millions and send violent criminals back to their country.

Sheriff Hunter believes the training the deputies and officers are taking could save taxpayers $9 million a year. The figure is based on the number of illegal immigrants in the Collier County Jail which is around 25%.

25 deputies and officers from the road and the jail already started their training.

Barbara Gonzales with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, "They're being trained to know what a false document looks like so when we're presented with a visas and would at least have a suspicion."

The Government issues more than 230 types of Visas so identifying a fake one won't necessarily be easy. The goal is to identify criminals that are illegal immigrants so U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement can speed up the deportation process if possible.

Sheriff Hunter says, "The people we are arresting here that our criminal aliens are responsible for many, many criminal offenses here in Collier County. What we're doing is trying to break that cycle."

The Sheriff says there are 20 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. and only 5,700 immigration officers. The Collier County Sheriff's Office is one of three agencies in the country training with U.S. Federal Authorities. Sheriff Hunter believes other agencies in Florida and around the country will follow their lead.

http://www.winknews.com/news/local/9289111.html

Moving to news section.

Originally Posted by USPatriot

I agree Dragonfire although I did read the Lee Co. Sheriff applied for the 287g program.

Do you know if this is true cause we sure need it Faaasst !!!

Your answer was posted in this mornings paper. http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll ... 20419/1075 With a link to the News Press forum. http://www.news-press.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=221988

Deputies train for immigration duty in Collier
By Denes Husty III
dhusty@news-press.com
Originally posted on August 22, 2007

The Collier County Sheriff's Office is the first in Florida to have deputies being cross-trained as federal officers who can detain suspected illegal immigrants.

"This is the leading edge. You're going to see more and more jurisdictions doing this," Sheriff Don Hunter said during a Tuesday press conference.

He said 25 road patrol and jail deputies have begun immigration training at the sheriff's office.

The deputies will be able to assist federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers after completing the four to five weeks of classroom instruction, plus some additional hands-on training, Hunter said.

Some believe the program will backfire, though.

"What he has created is a barrier between them and us," said Lucas Benitez, director of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.

But the program is not designed to spark mass arrests of illegal immigrants, Hunter said.

"The people we single out are people violating the law," he said.

That could include people stopped for anything from traffic infractions to felonies, the sheriff said. But it could also include people reporting crimes if the issue of their immigration status comes up, he said.

At the time suspects are stopped and while they are being booked into the jail, the deputies would be trained to detect fake documents indicating the person is in the country illegally, he said.

Hunter said the training will be paid by the federal government, adding that he didn't know how much the program costs.

Hunter's agency is the first sheriff's office in Florida to have deputies cross-trained as ICE officers, said Mike Rozos, Florida field office director for the ICE Detention and Removal.

"I'm hopeful we will have 12 to 15 other jurisdictions in Florida participating in this program," Rozos said.

Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott said he is interested in the program. He said his deputies routinely report suspected illegal immigrants to ICE officers.

He plans to explore the program with federal officials at a later date.

Hunter said his agency is the first to undergo the training because he was the first to apply for the program.

The sheriff said his agency has a long history of cooperation with ICE, including Operation Return to Sender in September 2006 in which his deputies assisted federal officers in arresting 163 illegal immigrants from 11 countries.

Hunter is also the regional chairman of the Domestic Security Task Force.

The purpose of the new program, Hunter said, is to bolster the ranks of ICE officers.

There are fewer than 12,000 ICE field and detention officers in the United States, said Barbara Gonzalez, ICE Southern Regional spokeswoman.

There are as many as 20 million illegal immigrants in the country, Hunter said.

That includes about 950,000 illegal immigrants in Florida, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.

About 26 percent of Collier's jail population — some 335 out of 1,290 inmates — are either illegal immigrants or have violated their right to be in the country, Hunter said.

Some are repeat offenders who have been charged with as many as 27 crimes, he said.

These illegal immigrant criminals cost Collier taxpayers more than $9 million a year, Hunter said.

This cost could be reduced by starting the immigration process while they are still in custody.

That way, if the federal government determines certain prisoners should be deported, they can be sent home as soon as they finish their sentences, Hunter said.

Workers coalition director Benitez said some people will be reluctant to report crime if they think their immigration status will be questioned.

"It's going to leave many criminals on the streets because no one will report them," Benitez said.

Hunter said his deputies will not single out any particular ethnic group.

"You have to apply all the laws. By doing that, you gain the trust of the people you serve," the sheriff said.

Looks like Don Hunter is getting ready to take care of business. This only means the illegals will be driven out of Collier Co. in to Lee.

Added to Homepage:
http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=N ... =0&thold=0

Here is basically the same story except run on local TV news with a video option.
http://www.winknews.com/news/local/9289111.html

Lee county Sheriff Scott needs to quit dragging his heels on this.He has been saying he's interested in 287g for at least a year.

He met with a local minute men group at least 6 mths ago and said he was working on it.

OK need to bug him about this but he is stuborn and does things His Way !!

Originally Posted by USPatriot

Lee county Sheriff Scott needs to quit dragging his heels on this.He has been saying he's interested in 287g for at least a year.

He met with a local minute men group at least 6 mths ago and said he was working on it.

OK need to bug him about this but he is stuborn and does things His Way !!

Did you attend the meeting?

Editorial: Sheriff’s initiative beats waiting for bureaucrats on immigration enforcement
By Daily News staff

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Collier County Sheriff Don Hunter has been following through since Sept. 11, 2001, on pledges to help enforce U.S. immigration laws.

He was the first to expose gaps between localized and federal data banks on criminals and suspects. When he told us his and other sheriff’s and police departments in Florida did not have access to vital national information, we were shocked.

He started working to change that.

Now he is helping build bridges. A few months ago he announced officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are based at his jail to help weed out illegals who cost Collier taxpayers some $9 million a year in room and board.

Now, Hunter and ICE officials are announcing formal cross-training of more than two dozen deputies to spot illegals amid the sea of paperwork that is out there, and send them home.

A lot of that documentation is real, with more than 230 kinds of visas. A lot of it is not.

The spectacle of these deputies in a classroom setting with piles of textbooks in front of them speaks to the magnitude of the problem, as well as the seriousness of the resolve to address it.

It is noted that though the illegals convicted of local crimes have to serve those sentences here, Hunter’s efforts still have merit. Their incarceration keeps them off the streets. Then, Hunter and the rest of us are happy to report, these illegals can be deported.

Not perfect, but a lot better than doing nothing and complaining and waiting for Congress and the White House to take action.


http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2007/aug ... ng_bureau/