Just who is this group trying to protect?! Are they saying that the illegal immigrants fears must be appeased so that our safety is compromised? Are they saying that the criminal element should be untouchable? [!] I looked on line and did not see any video clips on the news conference yet -maybe no media showed! I'll check tonight. Good for our Sheriff Curran!!

Sheriff's deportation power bid under fire Latino group seeks meeting

December 14, 2007
By RYAN PAGELOW rpagelow@scn1.com

WAUKEGAN -- A group of Latino leaders is urging the Lake County Sheriff's Office to withdraw its application for the federal authority to initiate deportation proceedings against immigrants convicted of serious crimes.

The Waukegan Leadership Council, which formed in the aftermath of Waukegan's application to the same program this summer, said there is already a process in place to deport serious criminals who are foreign-born. The council's main concern is that deportation powers would erode immigrants' trust of police if local law enforcement is linked to federal immigration enforcement.

The group sent a letter to Sheriff Mark Curran asking for a meeting because the decision to seek federal 287(g) authority was done without community input, said Porfirio Garcia, president of the Waukegan Leadership Council and owner of ReGar Realty, Inc. in Gurnee.

"The sheriff didn't ask for public opinion," Garcia said during a news conference Thursday.

Earlier this month, Curran announced that his office applied for six correctional officers to receive cross designation as Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents under 287(g) and at the time said it was not open to debate. As of Thursday, he had not been personally asked to meet with the Waukegan Leadership Council, Curran said.

"If it's about debating the benefits of 287(g), they should hold their breath," he said. "I'm not going to take a poll or meet with groups to see if it's OK to uphold the law."

If the sheriff's application is approved, the six corrections officers at Lake County Jail would be trained to begin deportation proceedings against immigrants convicted of violent crimes, sex offenses and Class X or Class 1 drug felonies. The sheriff's office has partnered with ICE on warrants initiatives in the past.

"It's nothing that they're not doing already. It's simply assisting them," Curran said.

"We are not opposed to removing the criminal element from the community," said Waukegan 4th Ward Ald. Tony Figueroa, who is also a board member of the Waukegan Leadership Council.

But immigrants often fear local law enforcement when they are linked to immigration agents, Figueroa said. "We've already seen this in Waukegan. People are afraid to call police," he said.

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