Thread: Lexington, KY: Immigration law training stirs debate

Immigration law training stirs debate
Lexington police would be trained to enforce rules
By Danielle Trusso
Aug 17, 2007

DTRUSSO@HERALD-LEADER.COM
Mayor Newberry won't find a report on immigration in Fayette County on his desk on Sept. 1, and when he does get the report, he is unlikely to find a unanimous recommendation on training Lexington police to enforce immigration laws.

During the Mayoral Commission on Immigration's first meeting to write the content of its report, members discussed health care and education for undocumented immigrants. But the most contentious debate was over the adoption of the law known as 287(g), which provides federal training on immigration enforcement.

Arguments for and against 287(g) flew back and forth across the table in a fifth floor conference room at the Urban County government building last night.

Fayette County Attorney Ray Larson and Commission member Wendy Devier commented in support of recommending the federal training.

Larson proposed using the law only in correctional facilities. When someone is arrested, their citizenship status would be determined.

If the criminal turned out to be an undocumented immigrant, the federal government would take over the proceedings and deport the individual, Larson said.

"At this point, we shouldn't train police officers just to snag people that look like immigrants," he said.

Four members of the group Kentuckians for Immigration Reform and Enforcement, which plans to hold a rally in support of 287(g) on Saturday, raised their voices in opposition to commission member Marilyn Daniel when she said she isn't sure the law is necessary.

If undocumented immigrants commit a serious crime, they need to be deported, she said, but she pointed out that minor offenses, such as driving without a license, also would be an offense punishable by deportation under 287(g).

While the majority of members didn't show support for Larson's recommendation, they won't decide the issue until they hear from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official.

During the two-hour meeting, members didn't have time to discuss two other topics prominent at the public hearings -- issuing local identification cards to all immigrants, regardless of status, and providing driver permits.

The commission will use its next meeting on Aug. 30 to talk about IDs, permits and 287(g), and have abandoned the Sept. 1 deadline. The deadline was set in June when Newberry formed the commission to study immigration issues.

Glen Krebs, commission chairman, said part of the problem with the issues they're dealing with is that much of the information the commission needs is not available.

Data about how many undocumented immigrants are in the county and how many of them commit crimes, for example, are not documented.

Census data released last wee revealed that Fayette County's Hispanic population grew by 66 percent over the last six years.

The 14,375 Hispanics account for 5 percent of the county's population of 270,789.

What commission members could agree upon was that no federal immigration legislation reforms are in site, with the latest congressional legislation failing in June, and that the immigrant population in Fayette County will continue to grow.

"We certainly don't have the ability to keep them in or out of the community," Krebs said.

http://www.kentucky.com/179/story/152142.html

Looks like Lexington like a lot of towns does not understand what is going to happen if they don't prepare now by voting for 287g and putting other laws in place.

The Illegal population will continue to grow and once they have a foothold it will be difficult to do anything to correct the situation because they will scream descrimination.