Thread: NC:Sheriff hosts 287 (g) critics

Sheriff hosts 287 (g) critics
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December 2, 2008 - 6:58 PM
Robert Boyer / Times-News

For several hours Monday afternoon, members of Fairness Alamance, a group concerned about the illegal immigration enforcement program at the Alamance County jail peppered Sheriff Terry Johnson with questions.

The 287(g) program is a partnership between the sheriff's office and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Named for a section of federal law, 287(g), among other things, trains and authorizes local lawmen and jailers as federal Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

The program, in place at the jail for more than 18 months, has came under scrutiny from those within and outside the Hispanic community who say it unfairly targets Hispanics for arrests and criminal investigations, and is more about curbing the influx of Hispanic immigrants than the sheriff's stated goal of reducing crime, especially serious offenses stemming from illicit drugs and gang activity.

On Monday, Johnson detailed how 287(g) works. The program, while housed in the jail, is under federal, not local control, he said.

Johnson insisted that his agency isn't profiling or targeting Hispanics and otherwise conducts the program according to the letter and spirit of the law.

Johnson said he has instructed his deputies not to ask anyone about their immigration status, including Hispanics who are crime victims.

Of those arrested by his deputies or other local agencies, only those charged with a crime have their immigration status checked at the county jail, he said.

"You've got to commit a crime here in Alamance County to come in through the 287(g) program," Johnson said.

Otherwise, the sheriff said, "I don't care if they come here ... illegally. That's not my concern. My concern is when they come here, they drive with no operator's license, they kill our citizens, DWI, steal, (commit) child abuse."

Johnson said he didn't think such behavior applied to "the entire Hispanic population."
He blamed the media, including the Times-News, for much of the "misconceptions" about his agency.

The sheriff said he had no control over federal immigration officers from the county jail and elsewhere who go out and pick up those suspected of being here illegally.

Criticism of the local 287(g) program spiked when Marxavi Angel Martinez, a county library worker, was arrested in July on charges related to her using the Social Security number of a dead person to obtain employment. Johnson has said a tip from a county employee to the sheriff's department led to her arrest. Angel-Martinez and her family came to the U.S. from Mexico more than 20 years ago when she was a toddler. As an adult, she remained in the U.S. illegally. She pleaded guilty and was credited with time served on the fraud-related charges. She is awaiting an appearance in federal court on the immigration-related violations.

At the end of Monday's board of commissioners meeting, Commissioner Tim Sutton, in an apparent reference to Fairness, said the group has hidden its aims and true nature from the public and has "ulterior" motives when it comes to 287(g).

Fairness asked Johnson for a meeting, and for a tour of the jail. The group has about 100 participants, said member Laura Roselle, an Elon University professor. Members include academics, clergy, Hispanics, non-Hispanics, Republicans, Democrats and independents, she said.

Roselle said the group has no ulterior motives. "They're a real cross-section of people ... They're people who are concerned about human rights, they're people who are concerned about government intrusion."

Roselle said Johnson's answers were lacking in specifics and failed to satisfy her concerns. "There was no concrete data presented by the sheriff at this meeting."

Roselle said she thinks Johnson, not media reports, "have been misleading."

"The newspaper can only report what the sheriff says," she said. "I don't believe the sheriff is giving the community all the information."

Democratic Commissioners Ann Vaughan, Eddie Boswell and Linda Massey were among the 15 or so who attended the discussion. Sutton and fellow Republican Dan Ingle, the board's vice chairman, didn't attend.

Vaughan said she was "largely satisfied with what (Johnson) said."

"He gave some good answers."

Vaughan said she hadn't "seen anything to the contrary" when it comes to the sheriff's contentions about 287(g), but would like to see a non-law enforcement community member on the program's steering committee.

"It would appear more open if he had civilians on that committee. They could be a mediator between the sheriff's department and the community," she said. "I think he needs to have more meetings like this to educate the public as to what's going on."

(On Monday, Johnson renewed his opposition to putting on the committee someone outside of law enforcement, saying it wouldn't change anything.)

Concerning Fairness Alamance, Vaughan said "they have a lot of concerns... but I think some of that is misinterpreted according to what was in the (Raleigh) News & Observer."

Later in the interview, Vaughan seemed to change her assessment of the sheriff concerning his reasoning about the supposed misconceptions over 287(g)

"It's not always somebody else. It can't be always somebody else," she said. "I respect his opinion, but in this case, I disagree with it."


http://www.thetimesnews.com/news/critic ... eriff.html

They are soooooo concerned with the Sheriff locking up all these "nice" criminals and violating their "human rights." Yeah, right!!!

Martinez could have tried to make her situation right. Instead, it seems that she took the easy way out with knowledge of using the social security number of a dead person. Why should anyone have any sympathy for her taking a job away from an American citizen, and knowingly lying, cheating and covering up a crime?

Our people in Alamance County had better get their act together. The pro illegal immigration / pro amnesty forces have organized well on the ground and have tied in with national Open Borders groups.

The Sheriff and County Commissioners on our side are going to need grass roots support and defense if we are going to protect our progress is Alamance.

W