New Hanover County joins a program to deport illegal immigrants

Posted by Debra Worley - email

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WECT) - New Hanover County is one of five counties joining a program to deport illegal immigrants.

Orange, Harnett, Duplin, New Hanover, and Buncombe are taking part in a program called Secure Communities.

It gives jails equipment that uses inmates' fingerprints to check immigration status and criminal records and automatically alerts immigration officials.

The program is similar to another one used by eight counties that trains officers how to interview immigrants and begin the deportation process.

According to the News & Observer of Raleigh, those eight counties helped deport more than 3,100 inmates in 2008.
http://www.wect.com/Global/story.asp?S=9794416