Immigration Officer Added in Marion

Aug 21, 2007

It's a sign of the impact illegal immigration has at the local level. The Marion Police Department will add a new position specializing in illegal immigration issues.

"There have been some questions about some illegal aliens in this area so if we get a call we are going to be better able to handle that with the addition in the detective bureau," says Marion Police Chief Harry Daugherty.

The officer will only work on immigration part-time, spending the rest of his time on a regular patrol.

Some immigration rights activists are concerned, though, that the new position will unfairly target people based on race.

"Driving around an ICE official is going to be more prone to looking for someone of color than he would otherwise," says Jesse Martinez of the Eastern Iowa Coalition.

Chief Daugherty defends the position. "It's illegal aliens it's not any ethnic group that we are looking at and so whoever calls, if we are getting a complaint from a citizen or if an officer pulls someone over and they don't have any identification, we are going to call this person out," he says.

The new position in Marion is a sign of the local impact of the national issue of illegal immigration.

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