Thread: NC Immigration training considered in 8 counties!

by Ellyn Ferguson, EFERGUSO@GNS.GANNETT.COM, and, Dale Neal, DNEAL@CITIZEN-TIMES.COM
published July 14, 2006 12:15 am

Eight Western North Carolina counties are exploring the idea of working with federal immigration agents to identify, process and in some cases detain illegal immigrants, Rep. Charles Taylor said Thursday.

Taylor said law enforcement officials in Henderson, Buncombe, Polk, Rutherford, Madison, McDowell, Transylvania and Yancey counties have met with agents from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, a part of the Department of Homeland Security.

The agencies have been talking about a federal program that provides specialized immigration training for local law enforcement officers.

Taylor said in a statement that eventually all 15 counties in his 11th Congressional District plan to be part of the training program.

The statement did not address program costs, funding for local law enforcement, whether immigration enforcement might pull from local police work in other areas and how extensively local law enforcement might be used in enforcing immigration laws.

Taylor spokeswoman Deborah Potter said Thursday evening that the congressman was traveling and could not be reached.

Jamie Zuieback, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Washington, D.C., said there have been preliminary discussions with Taylor and local law agencies but that no agreement has been signed.

The agency would train officers in immigration and civil rights laws.

The Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office as well as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Arizona Department of Corrections already have agreements with the agency, Zuieback said.

Local officers who receive the training are not empowered to conduct immigration sweeps or raids, Zuiback said.

Transylvania County Sheriff Geoffrey Shepherd said he worried about funding for local law enforcement.

“We’re a small agency and if we have to send someone off for three and half weeks of training, that’s very costly,” he said.

New equipment might also be needed. For example, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement program uses full-hand prints instead of individual fingerprints, Shepherd said.

“We might be looking at $25,000 to $30,000 to buy another print machine,” he said.

Contact Dale Neal at 828-232-5970 or via e-mail at dneal@ashevill.gannett.com.

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