Published Friday, July 13, 2007

Sheriff seeks power to ID illegals


From Staff Reports

As immigrants continue to pour into Henderson County unchecked, Sheriff Rick Davis would like to add another weapon to his arsenal to catch those here illegally if they are charged with committing a crime.

Davis was in Washington this week meeting with U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, Congressman Heath Shuler and other lawmakers to get support for the county to be designated in the federal 287(g) program, which allows local law enforcement agencies to be trained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on identifying and handling illegal immigrants who break the law.

"It's a high priority to all of us in Henderson County and I wanted to make sure that project was moving forward," Davis said Thursday in a telephone interview from Washington.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials removed 221,664 illegal immigrants from the country during the last year, an increase of more than 37,000, about 20 percent, over the year before, according to the agency's tally.

Last fiscal year, Henderson County spent about $750,000 to jail illegal immigrants who committed crimes in this county, Davis said.

This is the reason Davis is initiating a program where jail officers can act as immigrant agents after receiving training from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office. Officers will work to identify and deport illegals who commit crimes, he said.

Dole has been working with a number of North Carolina counties on gaining 287(g) status. Her office has met twice with Davis and is working to help expedite the process here.

Under the program, state and local law enforcement working with ICE gain resources, training and authority to pursue investigations relating to crimes.

"State and local law enforcement play a critical role in protecting our homeland security," Dole said in a telephone interview Thursday. "During the course of daily duties, they will often encounter foreign-born criminals and immigration violators who pose a threat. Once they are trained, they can use a data base to determine if a person has violated immigration laws. It's a very effective way to handle people who commit violent crimes. Criminal aliens are often released because local law enforcement can't determine their status. Through this program, ICE-trained local law enforcement will have full federal authority."

Dole said the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office received its 287(g) authority in February 2006 and, according to county documents, deputies examined more than 1,600 people who were arrested in the first nine months of the program, placing 853 of them in deportation proceedings.

Dole added that Davis has submitted the necessary paperwork to ICE and she is meeting with the ICE on Tuesday about the status of the request.

"This is an excellent way to enforce our laws," Dole said. "Securing our borders and enforcing our laws is something I've been talking about a lot."

Other efforts going on in the county to handle illegal immigrants include the Henderson County Blue Ribbon Committee on Illegal Immigration.

The committee has met weekly since its inception in April and is finishing work on a report and recommendations to the Board of Commissioners, which created the panel. The committee is trying to gauge the effect of illegal immigration on the county and will present its findings to the Board of Commissioners.

The Committee's recommendations in the draft for the Board of Commissioners to consider include:

• Use "its own bully pulpit ... to commend citizens and citizen groups who foster a deeper understanding of the immigration issue."

• Support Sheriff's Office efforts to crack down on hard-core crime linked to illegal immigration.

• Encourage English courses and a U.S. citizenship course.

• Encourage driver education for immigrants.

• Collect and evaluate immigration data from health, human services and law enforcement agencies and schools.

• Take "a personal expense-based trip into Mexico to study the extent economic and cultural realities."

While in Washington, Davis said he also talked with Rep. Shuler and Sen. Richard Burr about the issue and added that he hopes Thursday's meetings in Washington will result in positive change.

"Every member we have met with so far was tremendously supportive," Davis said. "I was able to tell them about technical issues we experience in law enforcement and start a learning relationship on both sides. Once they realize what we are facing, they are better able to help us out and I think our talks were very effective."

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