Knox County Sheriff's Office has lawmakers' support to be only one in state in ICE program

Tyler Whetstone , USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee Published 1:16 p.m. ET April 19, 2017 | Updated 8 hours ago

The Knox County Sheriff’s Office has the backing of federal lawmakers in its efforts to become the state's only department to be approved for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s controversial 287(g) program.

The program identifies undocumented immigrants once arrested and leaves their deportation status up to the federal government. The program would allow KCSO to enter into a partnership with ICE to be trained and authorized to enforce immigration laws within the county.

After a meeting of the ICE 287(g) Advisory Board on April 6, Knox County Sheriff Jimmy “J.J.” Jones was asked to gather letters of recommendation from Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker and Rep. John J. Duncan Jr.

At various points in the past two weeks, each has written a letter on Jones’ behalf, addressed to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which ICE is under.

Alexander’s office provided the senator’s letter which was addressed to Homeland Security Director John Kelly and dated April 12.

“Knox County Sheriff Jimmy Jones tells me that he would like to have more officers trained to perform immigration law enforcement functions and create a jail task force model for Knox County. Sheriff Jones is prepared to work with ICE to enter into a Memorandum of Agreement, and the delegation of authority under the 287(g) program will allow the Sheriff’s Office to perform important immigration enforcement functions during their law enforcement duties.”

http://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/2...ram/100619102/