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Southeast ask sheriff to consider immigration enforcement
By Marcela Rojas
The Journal News
(Original Publication: February 24, 2007)



SOUTHEAST - Town officials are urging the Putnam County sheriff to consider participating in a federal program that would allow local deputies to enforce federal immigration law.

Town Supervisor John Dunford sent Sheriff Donald Smith a letter last month asking him to "explore the feasibility" of implementing a U.S. Department of Homeland Security program that grants local and state law enforcement officers the authority to identify, question and arrest illegal immigrants after training by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

The request comes on the heels of what Southeast leaders call a recent spate of crime and other health and safety issues related to a rise in "illegal aliens residing or seeking work" in the town and the village of Brewster.

In the last few months,there have been several incidents linked to day laborers in the area, including a drowning that was ruled a homicide and several stabbings. The discovery of an extensive encampment behind Argonne Road also raised concerns.

"We need to research any policing authority that would be able to increase the protection of our residents," Dunford said. "Officers can't just ask for identification on the street, whereas (Immigration) does have that authority. If they (sheriff's deputies) are trained then they would have more jurisdiction. We need to know who is in our neighborhood."

Dunford said he spoke to Smith this week and that the sheriff was continuing to investigate the program. It would be the first of its kind in the state.

Smith responded in writing to questions about the program.

"My staff, under the leadership of Bill Spain, Esq., has been researching all aspects of this program to include costs, benefits, training requirement, and potential liability," the sheriff wrote. He added that once the research was completed the staff would brief the Putnam County Legislature. Spain is the sheriff's confidential adviser.

Smith went on to say that the department is already reporting to ICE and "seeking their assistance on virtually every crime which is a finger-printable offense."

The critical part of immigration enforcement, Smith said, is not really dependent on local law enforcement and its follow-up, but on the federal government's ability to "process, adjudicate and provide bed space" for illegal immigrants it chooses to deport.

The program Dunford cites requires local agencies to enter into a formal agreement with Homeland Security that defines the "scope and limitations" of their authority.

Officers then participate in a five-week training program and are later certified to perform immigration law enforcement duties under the supervision of ICE, as the immigration and customs agency is known.

The Immigration and Nationality Act added the section that created the program, called 287(g), in 1996.

Several law enforcement agencies and correctional facilities have participated, including ones in Florida, Alabama, Arizona, California and North Carolina.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement was the first to take part in the federal program in 2002. Some 62 agents and state and local officers have been trained. The agency has limited its authority to domestic security concerns, in places such as airports and seaports, said Mark Zadra, special agent in charge of domestic security and intelligence.

They would not, for example, have the right to stop a bus load of migrants just to inquire about their legal status, he said. ICE-certified personnel have been assigned to seven task force sites throughout the state.

But the Alabama Department of Public Safety, the second to enter into an agreement, in 2003, has a different approach. There, 60 trained state troopers must ask an individual his or her immigration status while conducting their normal duties, including investigating traffic infractions or accidents, said department spokeswoman Martha Earnhardt.

The troopers have the right to detain undocumented immigrants and send them to a holding facility, Earnhardt said. As of September, troopers had made 218 arrests under the program, she said.

ICE covers the cost of training, said public information officer Ernestine Fobbs.

A local agency is required to pay for each participant's overtime, transportation and lodging. The Alabama department spent $40,000 for each of the three training academy sessions, Earnhardt said.

Deputy Frederick Mark, president of the Putnam sheriff's Police Benevolent Association, said he was familiar with the program and thinks it's a great idea. However, the town, he said, should address other issues first.

"I would rather see the town of Southeast settle the Southeast security patrol car issue than worry about training deputies under the ICE program at this time," he said.

Mark was referring to a highly disputed contract Southeast has with the Sheriff's Office for designated patrol of seven town buildings and parks. Under the $120,000 annual agreement, Southeast is to receive a dedicated car for the security detail, but Mark has maintained that the town has not been getting that extra vehicle.

Town Councilwoman Lorraine Mitts said she had researched the program and would like to see something put in place.

"I'm of the opinion that if you are here illegally, you're breaking the law. I would like to see our immigration laws enforced," she said. "I know that the judges, police and residents are frustrated with what is a essentially a federal issue but that affects local lives. We have to start somewhere."

But Brewster resident Kathleen Meyerson said she was wary of the plan. Meyerson is a volunteer with the Brewster Emergency Shelter Partnership, started this winter by local churches that provides overnight shelters to the homeless.

"It could be an answer to our problems with the undocumented workers, but my concern is with racial profiling," she said. "Since 9/11 all citizens have been really losing their freedoms to even walk the streets. This would just be another step in that direction."