287 (g) in Alamance County, a history

August 21, 2008 - 6:21PM
Robert Boyer / Times-News
The 287 (g) program, an immigration enforcement partnership between federal, state and local authorities, is named for a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act that Congress passed in September 1996.

The program has been in place locally for more than a year and came into being after the county commissioners gave Sheriff Terry Johnson their blessing.

Bringing 287 (g) to the sheriff's office took nearly two years and two memorandums of understanding, according to Times-News stories and minutes from commissioners' meetings.

On Sept. 6, 2005, the commissioners, at the sheriff's request, unanimously approved a memorandum covering reimbursement for ICE-related expenses incurred by the sheriff's office "in providing resources related to joint operations/task forces."

The following April, the sheriff asked the board to back a plan from ICE that included 287 (g). Commissioners agreed, apparently by consensus.

On Oct. 2, 2006, Johnson told the commissioners that ICE and his office had signed a second memorandum to establish 287 (g) at the sheriff's office. Under the agreement the sheriff's office would "assist ICE with enforcement efforts in communities involving the deportation of illegal immigrants who are drug traffickers, gang members, and convicted of DWI, etc." minutes from the board meeting stated.

As part of the second memorandum, Immigration and Customs Enforcement requires the sheriff's office to set up complaint procedures "for allegations of misconduct by participating" sheriff's personnel, "or for activities undertaken under the authority" of the memorandum.

The document also requires that the "ICE Assistant Secretary and the the sheriff ... establish a steering committee that will meet periodically in Raleigh and/or Charlotte ... at location agreed upon by the parties.

"The reviews are intended to assess the use made of immigration enforcement authority and to ensure compliance with the terms of the MOU," the memorandum continues.



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