http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/index ... s_id=53576

Doubts, concerns overshadow sheriff’s push for immigration authority
By Jared Allen, jallen@nashvillecitypaper.com
December 07, 2006

Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall, the architect of a plan to use federal government resources to detain Nashville’s own criminal illegal immigrants, faced a barrage of concerns Wednesday from Nashville’s immigrant rights community.

Hall himself solicited much of that input by putting together an Immigration Advisory Council on the front end of his push to get Nashville enrolled in the joint local and federal immigration enforcement program, known as 287(g).

While the group’s first meeting Wednesday morning was cordial, some of those the Sheriff consulted for input made it clear they – and the communities they represent – do not understand about a great deal about the program’s intent.

In addition, there is much the immigrant community fears about the program, those individuals said.

As he has stressed in the past, Hall said 287(g) would be designed to keep dangerous people off the streets while enforcing immigration laws, not as a way to target immigrants.

But some members of Hall’s Advisory Council said they themselves worry the program will be co-opted to begin the mass deportation of all illegal immigrants.

“I am reluctant to sign on to any program that doesn’t have a great amount of oversight,” said Rick Casares, an independent immigrant advocate and a member of the Advisory Council. “This program is going to be in place long after [Hall] is gone... And I don’t think there’s been enough time to sit down and hash out what this means for the long haul.”

Those who have already traveled down the road Hall is now on – most notably officials in Mecklenburg County (Charlotte), which is serving as Hall’s template for the 287(g) program – say Hall is not just fighting a lack of understanding, but preconceived notions and a basic cultural gap between whites and Hispanic immigrants about the definition of law and order.

Julia Rush, the spokeswoman for the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office – the last county to get a 287(g) program up and running in its jail – said her office continues to battle immigrant rights groups over misconceptions about what Sheriff’s Deputies can and cannot do with their new immigration authority.

Some of those misunderstandings have been brought back to Nashville.

“I was in Charlotte and while I was there not only did I interact with the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s training officers, but also the local advocacy groups because I wanted both sides,” Casares said after Wednesday’s meeting.

“The program may be set up to facilitate the removal of criminal elements from the immigration system,” he said, “But what happens is it can be used incorrectly and with some obvious due process violations to remove virtually anybody that may lack proper documentation.”

“That’s just absolutely false and incorrect,” Rush said, explaining that Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Deputies do not – and cannot – detain anyone who is not already wanted for a criminal offense.

“They may call [Immigration and Customs Enforcement],” Rush said regarding individuals the Sheriff’s Deputies learn are illegal immigrants with no criminal records. “But in no way are they going to take you into jail.”

But what exactly constitutes criminal behavior was also a concern for the immigrant advocates in Nashville.

Salvador Guzman, an immigrant, business owner and a 17-year resident of Middle Tennessee, said he was concerned about the criminalization – and subsequent deportation – brought on by the law that levies a misdemeanor criminal offense for driving without a license, which is something many illegal immigrants are forced to do.

Hall said he is not out to detain every single known illegal immigrant who comes into his jail, only those who pose a threat to the public.

“I wouldn’t want to detain people just because they were in the country illegally. But if you’re violating the law locally, criminally, and you’re an undocumented person we don’t believe we should just release you and ignore your status,” Hall said. “And if you’re a risk to public safety, you should be detained.”

Maria Clara Mejia, the director of socio-cultural and civic programs at the nonprofit Conexion Americas, said the best way to move forward is through discussions, as well as through educating the immigrant community.

“We need to simply and clearly explain to the immigrant community what will trigger what,” Mejia said.