Thread: SC: Sheriff pushes regional jail system to house/deport IAs

Sheriff pushes regional jail system to house, then deport, illegal immigrants
MICHAEL WELLES SHAPIRO

Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner unveiled a proposal Thursday that would move illegal immigrants out of county jails and into a new regional jail system. It would also authorize state Department of Corrections staffers to process them for deportation.

The plan was put together by Tanner as head of a panel of South Carolina sheriffs, with input from Gov. Mark Sanford’s staff.

It breaks the state into three regions with tentative locations for the jails in Colleton, Lee and Laurens counties.

Under the proposal, inmates with sentences of a year or less who are determined to be illegal immigrants would be moved from crowded county facilities to the three regional facilities.

Tanner said the genesis for the regional approach, which he hopes would be copied by other states, grew out of the fact that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials don’t have the resources to train individual counties to process illegal immigrants for removal. That training program is called 287 (g).

At a January meeting with ICE officials, Tanner said, “we were told that 287 (g) … would not and could not be established in county jails in the future.â€

[quote]At a January meeting with ICE officials, Tanner said, “we were told that 287 (g) … would not and could not be established in county jails in the future.â€