Thread: Houston Mayor Retracts A Campaign Promise

Cost sidelines Parker promise to use ICE initiative at city jail
By SUSAN CARROLL and BRADLEY OLSON HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Feb. 24, 2010, 9:04PM

Mayor Annise Parker has shelved a campaign promise to use a controversial federal program to screen for illegal immigrants in local jails, saying the city has not yet decided to fund the initiative amid a tight budget year.

Instead, she said, the city is focused on a less costly program that automatically checks the immigration history of all suspects booked into the city's jails. That program, dubbed Secure Communities, was launched by the former mayor and has been up and running since December.

Parker said on the campaign trail that she favored having the city participate in both Immigration and Customs Enforcement programs, and pledged to dedicate city funds if necessary. But so far her administration has not taken any steps toward signing up for 287(g), which trains jailers to act as immigration agents. Former Police Chief Harold Hurtt estimated that having the city participate in that program would cost as much as $2 million annually.

“I still believe it's possible to use both, but we have to identify the money to use 287(g),â€

297(g) actually lowers the costs, because ICE will pay for that prisoner until they pick them up.

They tried that lame excuse in Gwinnett County, GA, because of the cost of training officers. They waited until after the county became the center of drug cartels moving their garbage up the east coast and the county is overrun with more illegals than citizens. Now they instituted it and say it is working and saving money.

The illegal population remains firmly entrenched, property values continue to fall, and the poor citizens cannot get out of there.

That program, dubbed Secure Communities, was launched by the former mayor and has been up and running since December

This is a good program. The disadvanrage of 287g, is that only a few law enforcement agencies actually have it. The Secure Communities Initiative should be rolled out state wide by 2010.

Ohio has one or two counties qualified for 287g. The other 86 counties may NEVER be qualified. Secure Communities is now in two counties and will be state wide by 2013.

Any law enforcment agency that has electronic (digital) images of finger print, can email them to a Secure Communities Sheriff. The Sheriff can then send them to ICE.

LET it ROLL.

The liberal Democratic leadership in Congress deliberately cut funding for the popular 287(g) program to restrict it to detaining and deporting "dangerous criminal aliens". While this certainly is important, they used the old saw that 287(g) was being used by local law enforcement officiials to "raciially profile" many being detained for more minor infractions to defend cutting back federal funding for the program.

i say use them both because even if it costs 2 million a year.
how much will it cost the city if and when it gets sued by families of people who have been killed by illegals. or the widow of rodney johnson

Originally Posted by jamesw62

i say use them both because even if it costs 2 million a year.
how much will it cost the city if and when it gets sued by families of people who have been killed by illegals. or the widow of rodney johnson

Amen