Thread: IL:Sheriff vows to press on smuggled guns, drugs -by IA's

Sheriff vows press on smuggled guns, drugs


July 19, 2008Recommend (3)

BY KENDRICK MARSHALL kmarshall@scn1.com
Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran said Friday that he is determined to eliminate drugs and firearms smuggled into the area by illegal immigrants.

"We can't turn a blind eye to this," Curran said of the amount of guns and drugs found in Lake County. "Those drugs are not indigenous to this country, and those guns do not belong here."

» Click to enlarge image Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran (left) and Undersheriff Charles Fagan talk during Friday's media roundtable meeting at the sheriff's office.
(MIchael Schmidt/News-Sun)

Curran said he was disappointed that the federal government was not doing enough to prevent illegal immigrants who are criminals from smuggling weapons and drugs into the United States.

"It is cowardice that they are not working toward preventing this from happening," he said. "Our duty should be to hold up the Constitution."

Wayne Hunter, Lake County director of homeland security, said County Jail currently has 100 foreign-born inmates, and he is hoping the county's federal 287(g) application will lead to deportation of those inmates.

The sheriff's office is in a holding pattern after submitting its first round of detailed paperwork to federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement last month.

The department is attempting to get deportation training for deputies in the jail, with hopes of aiding federal officials in deporting illegal immigrants who have been convicted of violent crimes.

Jail deputies will be responsible for identifying inmates who are eligible for deportation, and they'll keep tabs on them as they go through the court and jail system. Upon their release from jail or prison, sheriff's employees will work with immigration officials to begin the deportation process.

On a mainly parallel track, Waukegan applied for 287(g) a year ago. However, the city would have sworn officers trained for deportation.

When Waukegan officials voted to move forward with 287(g) last July, it caused an uproar in the Hispanic community, where many feared the power would be abused by officers.

The sheriff's application will focus on training a handful of jail deputies. Jail deputies do not have the power to arrest, which means that no one outside of the jail could be targeted for deportation.


http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/news ... 1.article#

Thanks for posting this. I hope you don't mind I added IL to the title. We need every bit of good news for this state we can get!! Sheriff Curran has really come along. On a recent radio interview he said he had just finished reading Sheriff Joe's biography. Maybe you all could send that book to your local sheriff as a present!

Anyway, Sheriff Curran's jail is in downtown Waukegan -which should help our cause as the application proceeds.

I'm still not sure if he is saying we 'got it' or not??

Another site had this article and this headline;

Another Chicago-area Police Force Begins 287(g) Immigration Training

steinreport

I want to find out so I can spread the good news.

Made my heart sing when I read it........we need more Sheriff Joes out there.