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Funding prevents immigration law enforcement training


By DANIEL GILBERT
dgilbert@potomacnews.com
Thursday, March 2, 2006



The federal government has a program in place to train local police officers to enforce immigration law. Two major hang-ups, however, stand in the way: local police departments are already stretched to capacity and the federal government has funding issues.

These factors help explain why just three states and two municipalities nationwide actively participate in 287g, a program that trains police officers at state and local levels to enforce immigration law - that has existed for a decade.

Charlie T. Deane, chief of police for the Prince William County Police Department, has no plans for any of his 497 officers to receive training in enforcing immigration law.

“We have our hands full dealing with local policing matters,” he said. “We do call on [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] when serious criminals have immigration status issues, but the issue of immigration ... is far beyond our capabilities.”

At a U.S. Senate hearing Wednesday, a senator questioned the federal government’s willingness to help municipalities enforce immigration law at the local level.

Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., asked Marcy Foreman, ICE director of investigations, if her organization was “aggressively pursuing” 287g programs in states seeking help enforcing immigration law.

“I talked to an officer in Alabama and he said he would detain and transport an illegal immigrant to Birmingham, if he could be reimbursed for gas mileage,” Sessions said. “Would you reimburse that?”

“Funding is an issue,” Foreman replied. “We have 5,500 special agents nationwide. We have to prioritize.”

The program in question, 287g, is part of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which Congress passed in 1996. To date, only Alabama, Florida, Arizona and the municipalities of Los Angeles and San Bernandino, have signed memorandums of understanding with ICE, which administers the training. Training sessions last four and a half weeks, and instruct officers in immigration law, civil rights and intercultural training, according to Ernestine Fobbs, ICE spokesman.

To participate in 287g, Fobbs said, a municipal government applies to ICE, which evaluates the needs of the area and its resources. ICE then decides whether to provide the training. The municipality must pay for all travel-related expenses.

At the state level, a bill that would require the governor to send select state police officers to be trained by ICE is currently being debated in the Senate, after passing the House 77-22. A Senate committee may vote on the bill, HB487, by the end of the week.

The Virginia State Police would not comment on the pending legislation, according to spokeswoman Corrine Geller.

Kevin Hall, press secretary for Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, said that the governor has not taken a position on the legislation, but added that it was not a new issue.

“It came up last year, and the feds weren’t willing or capable partners,” Hall said. “I don’t know what has changed.”