Thread: N.C.: Rowan sheriff praises new plan to deal with illegal im

Fri, Oct 19, 2007

Rowan sheriff praises new plan to deal with illegal immigrants
By Steve Huffman

Salisbury Post

Rowan County Sheriff George Wilhelm said a new plan for sheriffs to partner with immigration and customs officials should go far toward clamping down on illegal aliens in North Carolina and beyond.

"It will increase greatly our chances of finding somebody," Wilhelm said.

On Tuesday, Sen. Elizabeth Dole, a Republican from Salisbury, announced that North Carolina has been designated the first state to have such a statewide plan for sheriffs.

The announcement came at the N.C. Sheriff's Association fall meeting at Carolina Beach. Wilhelm attended the conference.

As part of the plan announced by Dole, sheriffs will partner with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to handle illegal aliens who have committed crimes.

"I firmly believe that North Carolina can become a model for the nation on how to identify, apprehend and remove undocumented aliens who have self-identified themselves by committing crimes," Dole said. "Today is a significant step in that direction."

Wilhelm said he and members of his staff met several times with Dole's staff to discuss the plan to crackdown on illegal aliens who commit crimes.

He said part of the plan includes an effort to better track the fingerprinting of illegal aliens nationwide.

Wilhelm said that at present, when people are arrested, their fingerprints go through a system by which they're relayed to the State Bureau of Investigation.

But those fingerprints don't go to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which would do a better job of keeping track of them nationwide.

If funding is made available, fingerprints of local criminals will soon go not only to the SBI but to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as well.

"From what we're told by the (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) people, we'll have it within a year," Wilhelm said.

He said that once that capability is in place, local law enforcement agencies will know immediately if the person has been deported and has returned to the United States illegally.

If that's the case, they'll be deported again immediately.

Wilhelm said such capabilities will help law enforcement officers immensely. He said that the number of illegal aliens in the United States has mushroomed, from 2 to 3 million 10 years ago to 12 million today.

In North Carolina, the number of illegal aliens has increased from 100,000 to 600,000 over the past decade.

"A certain percentage are going to be bad people," Wilhelm said.


http://www.salisburypost.com/area/297258359603975.php

Well, North Carolina is finally waking up the sleeping giant is finally making some noise on this issue. Now don't just go for a few who have broken our laws like dwi and so forth. They are all law breakers so do your sworn duty. Deport them all I say.