Thread: NC: 287(g) coming to Henderson Cty Sheriff dept

Henderson County Sheriff's Department joined last week is a common-sense approach to illegal immigration.

Rather than casting a wide net to round up all illegal immigrants in this county, the Sheriff's Office will participate in a program designed to identify and deport illegals who commit crimes. The first would be an expensive and ultimately futile adventure; the second is a worthwhile public safety program.

Reasonable people on either side of the immigration question can agree that it makes sense to deport criminals.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Raleigh have added Henderson, Wake and Cumberland counties to the four North Carolina counties that are already in the program -- Alamance, Cabarrus, Gaston and Mecklenburg.

Davis said if everything works out right, deputies working at the jail will begin training in April in identifying illegal immigrants charged with a crime.

The deputies will ask suspects brought to the jail where they were born. A response of anywhere outside the U.S. will trigger the process. Deputies will be able to access a federal database to verify the suspect's immigration status and, if someone is illegal, start the deportation process.

The program not only makes good sense, it makes economic sense, too. In the last fiscal year alone, Henderson County spent $750,000 to jail illegal immigrants convicted of crimes ranging from kidnapping to rape to selling drugs.

Deporting the criminal element is more in keeping with what the American people want when it comes to immigration. Despite the vocal minority that claims people want all illegals rounded up and sent home, the reality is just the opposite.

Most people know the government would waste millions of dollars in trying to deport thousands of dishwashers, motel maids, roofers and landscapers. What the majority favors instead is a process for allowing illegals to earn citizenship, assimilate, pay taxes and contribute to the great melting pot.

Rosa Rosales, president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, pointed out in an op-ed column in Tuesday's Wall Street Journal that in 22 polls conducted last year, between 50 and 83 percent of Americans favored a method for allowing undocumented workers to become legal.

And the presidential primaries this year have validated that point of view. In New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida, Rosales wrote, voters in both parties chose candidates who supported amnesty and in-state tuition for illegals. The candidates who tried hardest to pander to immigration fear finished back in the pack. The last of those, Mitt Romney, dropped out on Thursday.

"Even if pundits, bloggers and talk show hosts can't seem to get this message in their heads," Rosales wrote, "the American public is speaking through their votes."

A program that deports illegal criminals, on the other hand, should have widespread support. Sheriff Rick Davis deserves credit for aggressively pursuing this practical solution.

http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/200 ... unty_needs

This is good news!!

FANTASTIC!

Shucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I thought it was Henderson...NEVADA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But good news for THAT Henderson!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Your turn's coming, grandmasmad.