Thread: Loudoun Co.: Deputies may be trained in immigration enforcem

05/01/2007
Deputies may be trained in immigration enforcement
By: Jason Jacks

Some Loudoun County Sheriff's deputies may soon take on a job once thought to be the sole domain of the federal government: arresting and deporting illegal immigrants.
Under the program, called 287(g), some county deputies would be trained to investigate the status of illegal immigrants who have been arrested for violent crimes or have re-entered the country after being deported. Local deputies could also pursue deportation proceedings against someone found in the country illegally.

Herndon, where a legalized day-laborer site opened in 2005, recently signed up for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement program. So far, the town is the only local jurisdiction to do so.

On May 1, Loudoun Sheriff Steve Simpson briefed the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors on the program, saying he was still unsure if his department would take part in 287(g), which is named for a section of the 1996 Immigration and Nationality Act.

"They're looking for jail space," he said of ICE officials.

Simpson told supervisors that the county jail - 130 inmates above capacity - may be stretched further if his department begins detaining illegal immigrants for ICE. However, federal officials assured him, he said, that those arrested by his deputies would be transferred out of the county jail within 72 hours. ICE would also reimburse Loudoun for the costs of housing the detainees.

Simpson questioned whether participating in the program would curb local gang activity, since only one in every 20 gang members arrested in Loudoun is in the United States illegally. "It may not do much," he warned.

Though she supports the program if "executed" properly, Laura Valle, executive director of La Voz of Loudoun, an organization that assists the local Latino community, said the unknowns about 287(g) could incite "fear" in Loudoun's immigrant community.

"This needs to be made clear that they will not randomly be pulling people over to check identifications," she said.

If his department does participate, Simpson told supervisors that deputies would target violent-crime offenders and not "those who are here only illegally."

He also said he still had questions for ICE officials before committing to 287(g). If he does, about a dozen deputies would receive the special training.

In an unrelated matter, the board Tuesday agreed on a proposal by Supervisor Mick Staton (R-Sugarland Run) to have the county attorney look into whether Loudoun should file a lawsuit with the state Supreme Court questioning the constitutionality of the state's new transportation plan.

In question is whether the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority can legally levy new taxes and fees to fund local road projects.

The motion passed unanimously.


http://www.timescommunity.com/site/tab1 ... 4235&rfi=6

Though she supports the program if "executed" properly, Laura Valle, executive director of La Voz of Loudoun, an organization that assists the local Latino community, said the unknowns about 287(g) could incite "fear" in Loudoun's immigrant community

The only reason any immigrant would need to fear is because they are here ILLEGALLY. When are these support groups going to grasp this concept? Obviously never!
I'm glad to see more and more cities getting involved with the 287(g). I am also surprised that the ACLU, LaRaza and all the other OBL groups haven't tried to close this loophole down in courts!

Sheriff Reverses ICE Opposition
By Catherine McKinney

(Created: Friday, May 4, 2007 8:16 AM EDT)



After initially refusing to utilize a training program U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement provides to deter illegal immigrants from committing crimes in the county, Sheriff Stephen O. Simpson changed his position Tuesday before the board of supervisors.

According to Simpson, the federal program permits federally trained local law enforcement officers to begin the deportation paperwork for illegal immigrants who have either been charged with a violent crime, are known gang members or have been previously deported. The program, Simpson said, targets people who already have a criminal record and who are in the country illegally.

The decision came a week after two candidates challenging Simpson for his job in this fall's election-Republican Greg Ahleman, a former deputy who quit to challenge his former boss for the GOP nomination, and Democrat Mike George, a recording industry investigator and former police officer-came out in strong support of getting the ICE training.

Simpson said his sudden change of heart came after a phone call Tuesday morning just before the supervisors' meeting. Simpson said ICE representatives told him they would remove any federal inmates from the county jail after 72 hours and pay any overtime to sheriff's deputies who transported the inmates to other jails in the case that ICE personnel could not do so themselves. Initially, part of the agreement between ICE and local sheriff's offices was that the departments would be responsible for the federal inmates until the deportation process was complete as well as transporting local inmates to other jails to make room for federal inmates. This costs hundreds of dollars per inmate, Simpson said after the meeting.

"My issue with it before was the transportation and housing of the inmates if I signed the agreement. I had to provide the bed space until [the federal inmates] were deported. Under the current agreement, ICE picks up the inmates after 24 to 48 hours once they've served time for their local charges, so I don't have to create space for them. The downside of the agreement was that we would have to commit to jail space that we didn't have," Simpson said.

The county jail was built in the 1950s to accommodate 62 inmates. By the '60s, the jail was double-bunked and added onto to accommodate a little under 100 inmates. Currently, the jail is over crowded with 130 inmates, Simpson said.

Simpson said the new jail, scheduled to open this year, will accommodate 210 inmates, but it will not alleviate the over-crowding problem. Plans have been made to expand the jail, but the project is still in the design phase, Simpson said, and will not be completed for several more years.

To make room for a federal inmate, the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office has to move a local inmate to another jail in a different jurisdiction. While the federal government reimburses the department for housing its inmates, it does not reimburse the transportation or the housing of the local inmate in a different jurisdiction. Simpson said it costs the department approximately $50 to $75 per day for one inmate to be displaced to another jail.

According to sheriff's office spokesman Kraig Troxell, as of Monday, the county has 206 local inmates housed in other jurisdictions, which Simpson said cost the department well over a million dollars last year.

Once the deportation process has been completed and the local inmate has been returned, which could take up to several weeks or months, the sheriff's office will have paid hundreds of dollars for each inmate, Simpson said, not including the cost of any medical expenses and overtime pay for sheriff's deputies who had to transport local inmates back and forth.

"To me it was a cost issue and a jail space issue. It's a lot of overtime and a lot of housing for inmates in other jurisdictions. It was going to cost a lot of taxpayers' dollars that I didn't think was necessary," he said. "It wasn't that I disagreed with the process, the training or having more people involved in the process. It was the other side of the issue that I didn't like, and I didn't see a need for [the program] because we already had a system in place that worked without any strings attached." The program's official name is 287(g).

But at yesterday's board meeting, Simpson told supervisors that he had spoken with ICE Assistant Special Agent in Charge Robert Hines-the national point of contact-who said he was willing to make accommodations to address Loudoun's overcrowded jail situation.

"If [ICE] is willing to pull those strings and basically give us what we're looking for, I would agree, but I want to see it in writing first." Simpson said.

Simpson said yesterday that the arrangement has been completely verbal to this point, but he said that he expected to hear from Hines within the next few days to schedule a meeting with ICE representatives to draft a memorandum of understanding.

"If the issue is eliminated, then I have no problem with it and will be willing to go ahead and move forward and get some more of our people involved in the process," Simpson said.

Although many of the board of supervisors voiced their approval of Simpson's decision, there was at least one in the audience whose eyebrows were raised by the Sheriff's sudden acceptance of 287(g).

Ahlemann said after the meeting that he was concerned about Simpson's sincerity.

"[Simpson] talked about budget concerns about transporting and farming out inmates because we'd be holding inmates for ICE. That's been his argument from the beginning. His argument for not enforcing the federal laws has been solely the financial setbacks. He'd rather let illegal immigrants, who are killing people on the streets, be free than to pay $55 a day to house [our inmates] in another facility," Ahlemann said. "Now that it's become a political issue, the sheriff has flip-flopped from a week ago to now, when he's willing to accept it because he's getting support. The program has been around since 1996.

"I'm happy for the citizens of Loudoun County that the sheriff has realized that this program is needed, but I'm concerned about his sincerity about some dollar value as opposed to saving lives and enforcing the law. I don't think that dollars and cents should overrule if one life can be saved," Ahlemann said.

Simpson said a week earlier that one reason he opposed the program was that he already had access to ICE agents through the Northern Virginia Regional Gang Task Force so the additional cost was unnecessary, but Democrat George said he operated a similar program at one time for the Fairfax County Police Department using just one officer from the department. Having even one deputy trained would make a difference, George said.

"Right now, because the gang problem is out of control, we have to work with ICE," George said, adding that if deputies have run-ins with suspected gang members, they should automatically be checked for citizenship and processed if not in the U.S. legally.

In response to Simpson saying he had access to ICE agents, George pointed out, "They don't just service Loudoun County."

Simpson said the new revelations about the county's responsibilities led to the change, not his opponents' criticism last week of a letter he wrote to the editors of local newspapers opposing the program.

"I know what people are saying," Simpson said, "They're saying that this program has been around since 1996 and that I haven't done anything about it until now, but the history that people don't know is that nobody did anything with 287(g) regionally or nationally at that time. It's only been in the last couple of years that this thing has really been put out there and promoted by ICE."

Simpson said he thought that many local law enforcement agencies had similarly refused the program because of "the strings attached," which is why ICE is more willing to make accommodations for the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office. n

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