Sheriff Disputes Immigration Report
May 10, 2008 - 12:15pm

Federal immigration officials, as well as Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins, dispute the findings of a recent report about the costs of a program to arrest and detain unauthorized immigrants.

They said the program is here to stay.

In a press conference Tuesday, CASA de Maryland, an immigration rights advocacy group, presented a report stating the program would cost the county $3.2 million per year and could increase racial profiling without reducing crime.

Kerry O'Brien, a senior manager of legal services for CASA, said the figure was derived from public information, and factored in the increased number of inmates, training and staffing costs for the sheriff's office, as well as the price of foster care resulting from deportation.

O'Brien said CASA was also concerned Jenkins had acted unilaterally, without clear support from the community or by ratification from the county commissioners, in signing up for the program.

Jenkins said that while he notified commissioners he was entering into the program with ICE, their authority is not required.

Richard Rocha, a spokesman for ICE, said he believed some groups like CASA do not have a clear understanding of how the program is funded or the scope of trained local officers with immigration authority.

Rocha did not provide details about such costs or the specifics of the agreement with Frederick County, but said, for example, that ICE assumes responsibility for payment of detention space after a local law enforcement agency releases a detainee from custody.

Jenkins also disagreed with some findings of the report.

"Frankly, a lot of what they put out is not factual information and does not apply to this agency," he said.

Jenkins said the program is funded entirely through ICE's budget, and no cost, either in training staff or providing equipment, such as computer systems, has been incurred thus far by the county.

He said deputies involved in the program will enforce federal immigration laws in tandem with their other duties. No additional staff will be hired to implement the program, Jenkins said.

The county entered into a separate agreement in July to house detainees for ICE from throughout the state and region, Jenkins said. Under that program, ICE pays for bed space for immigration detainees.

The sheriff's office has received as much as $800,000 since that program began, Jenkins said, and just handed over $500,000 to the county to help balance this year's fiscal budget.

The CASA report warned the program might also deteriorate trust between the immigrant community and law enforcement. The potential for racial discrimination by officers under the program could lead to the risk of legal liability from potential discrimination lawsuits.

Jenkins said he believed he has the trust of the legal immigrant community, but will never have the trust of illegal immigrants.

ICE officials will be monitoring to make sure racial profiling does not occur, and that it might be possible ICE would bear some of the burden if such a lawsuit took place, he said.

"We're going to be careful not to violate someone's civil liberties and rights," Jenkins said.

Copyright 2008 The Frederick News-Post. All rights reserved.

by Nicholas C. Stern @ The Frederick News-Post

Federal immigration officials, as well as Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins, dispute the findings of a recent report about the costs of a program to arrest and detain unauthorized immigrants.

They said the program is here to stay.

In a press conference Tuesday, CASA de Maryland, an immigration rights advocacy group, presented a report stating the program would cost the county $3.2 million per year and could increase racial profiling without reducing crime.

Kerry O'Brien, a senior manager of legal services for CASA, said the figure was derived from public information, and factored in the increased number of inmates, training and staffing costs for the sheriff's office, as well as the price of foster care resulting from deportation.

O'Brien said CASA was also concerned Jenkins had acted unilaterally, without clear support from the community or by ratification from the county commissioners, in signing up for the program.

Jenkins said that while he notified commissioners he was entering into the program with ICE, their authority is not required.

Richard Rocha, a spokesman for ICE, said he believed some groups like CASA do not have a clear understanding of how the program is funded or the scope of trained local officers with immigration authority.

Rocha did not provide details about such costs or the specifics of the agreement with Frederick County, but said, for example, that ICE assumes responsibility for payment of detention space after a local law enforcement agency releases a detainee from custody.

Jenkins also disagreed with some findings of the report.

"Frankly, a lot of what they put out is not factual information and does not apply to this agency," he said.

Jenkins said the program is funded entirely through ICE's budget, and no cost, either in training staff or providing equipment, such as computer systems, has been incurred thus far by the county.

He said deputies involved in the program will enforce federal immigration laws in tandem with their other duties. No additional staff will be hired to implement the program, Jenkins said.

The county entered into a separate agreement in July to house detainees for ICE from throughout the state and region, Jenkins said. Under that program, ICE pays for bed space for immigration detainees.

The sheriff's office has received as much as $800,000 since that program began, Jenkins said, and just handed over $500,000 to the county to help balance this year's fiscal budget.

The CASA report warned the program might also deteriorate trust between the immigrant community and law enforcement. The potential for racial discrimination by officers under the program could lead to the risk of legal liability from potential discrimination lawsuits.

Jenkins said he believed he has the trust of the legal immigrant community, but will never have the trust of illegal immigrants.

ICE officials will be monitoring to make sure racial profiling does not occur, and that it might be possible ICE would bear some of the burden if such a lawsuit took place, he said.

"We're going to be careful not to violate someone's civil liberties and rights," Jenkins said.

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