Immigration law will burden jail, sheriff says

Sarasota Herald Tribune
January 24, 2011 Monday
By Jeremy Wallace

If Florida passes tough new illegal immigration laws like Arizona's, Sarasota will be forced to build a new jail to deal with the new arrests, Sarasota's sheriff said.

Speaking to more than 120 people at a Sarasota Republican Club meeting, Sheriff Tom Knight said he agrees with the philosophy of getting illegal immigrants off the street, but realistically Sarasota County currently doesn't have the jail space to house them.

"Where are you going to put them and how are you going to pay for it?" Knight asked during the Thursday night meeting.

Knight, a Republican, said he has been able to get more than 160 illegal immigrants from 17 counties in the jail deported in the last two years to free up jail space. If deputies start checking the immigration status of people pulled over for routine traffic stops, he says the jail population will swell past the 1,026 inmates the jail can hold now.

"You as a community will have to pay for the bricks and mortar," Knight said.

Knight said the federal government has "dropped the ball" on illegal immigration.

He said if the federal government was doing its job correctly, Florida wouldn't have the illegal immigration problem it has.

But the solution, he said, should not be just something that forces local governments to build more jails.

Just two years ago, Knight said, he had 1,002 people in the jail -- near capacity.

He has been able to get the number down to 838, but says tougher state illegal immigration laws will make those populations swell as the county waits for the federal government to go through the deportation process.

The Legislature is considering a bill sponsored by State Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, that will allow police to check the immigration status of people pulled over for traffic offenses and turn them over to federal authorities.

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