County sheriff asked to check residency of inmates


July 9, 2008

By MATT HANLEY mhanley@scn1.com
An anti-illegal immigration group that pushed for changes in Elgin now is seeking information about the screening processes at the Kane County jail.

Doug Heaton, the president of Elgin-based Association for Legal Americans, has asked Kane County Sheriff Pat Perez to review the jail's policies for checking the residency status of arrestees.

In June, Heaton and Perez traded tense e-mails regarding immigration checks. Heaton posted the e-mails on his Web site and encouraged supporters to e-mail the sheriff.

Heaton asked Perez a series of immigration-related questions, including how often inmates are checked and how much cooperation there is between immigration officials and local police.

"We just want to make sure they are checking people," Heaton said.

At this point, Heaton cannot point to any problems with Kane County policies, but he would like more information.

On July 1, Perez said his staff has regular contact with immigration officials and checks the residency status of every person brought into the jail.

"Everybody who comes into our facility is screened," he said. "We're very cognizant of not letting people slip through the cracks."

If someone comes with a residency issues, the feds are contacted, but that doesn't always mean the person is deported, he said.

Heaton takes issue more with the sheriff's response -- which called Heaton's questions "borderline insulting" -- than with his policies.

"It could be very well he's doing exactly what we hope he's doing," Heaton said. "We're just trying to see what level they're at."

Heaton is an advocate for closer screening of inmates in both prisons (where convicted felons are held) and jails (where people awaiting trial are held).

Heaton has specifically targeted the murder of Aurora resident Brenetta Beck as a case where an immigration check might have saved a life. Hezekiah Hamilton is charged with murdering Beck on Oct. 30, 2007.

Hamilton, a Jamaican native, had a criminal history. Heaton believes he should have had his residency revoked when he was released from prison before Beck was killed.

"We're not saying they're the only ones who murder people," Heaton said. "We're saying it's a shame that people who can be taken off the streets aren't."

It's ironic and encouraging, Heaton says, that good cooperation with immigration helped capture Hamilton. Hamilton was held for a deportation hearing while technicians processed evidence. When the lab results came back, he was charged with murder.

Although Heaton mentions Perez in his post on Hamilton, Heaton admitted they're two separate issues.

"I have no reason to believe Sheriff Perez did anything wrong in regards to Hezekiah Hamilton," Heaton said.

Heaton's group was behind a similar push in Elgin. This year, the city reinstituted a federal program that allows employers to check employees' Social Security numbers to verify work status. Elgin police expanded immigration screening to include all foreign-born arrestees booked in the Elgin jail.

Contacting the sheriff is not meant as an attack, Heaton said.

"This is just the next step up the chain," Heaton said.

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