Thread: NW Ark police to participate in immigration training

NW Ark police to participate in immigration training

http://www.pbcommercial.com/articles/20 ... 0tb780.txt
Tuesday, August 14, 2007 11:44 AM CDT

ROGERS, Ark. - Four northwest Arkansas police agencies head to Boston next week to receive federal training on enforcing immigration laws.

The Rogers and Springdale police departments and the sheriff's offices in Washington and Benton counties plan to send officers to a U.S. Department of Homeland Security seminar.

The program teaches officers how to screen inmates' immigration status and report illegal immigrants for possible deportation. The training includes four weeks of classroom study and one week of field training.

Rogers Mayor Steve Womack said six officers from his city will attend the instruction. Springdale police plan to send five officers and the Washington County Sheriff's Office plans to send four deputies, officials said. Benton County officials did not immediately return calls for comment.

Washington County Sheriff Tim Helder said the agencies want to take a regional approach to screening suspects for possible deportation.

"I think, with the political climate what it is right now on illegal immigrants, when word gets out about a program like this, it will have an impact," Helder said. "We won't know how big of an impact until we get started. Right now, it's a guessing game."

Census estimates show Arkansas has more than 141,000 Hispanic residents, many living in the northwest corner of the state. Recent studies concluded about half of the state's immigrant population lives in the United States illegally.

Rogers applied to the program in November, after an undercover police officer was shot in October while trying to serve a warrant at the home of an illegal immigrant. Officers were investigating an alleged drug operation.

Springdale police and the sheriff's offices applied for the federal training this year.

ACLU Requests 287(g) Records
Friday, Aug 17, 2007

By John Henley Jr.
Stephens Media
Rogers and Springdale Police departments, and the sheriffs' offices in Benton and Washington counties received Freedom Of Information Act requests from lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas on Thursday "for all documents and records relating to the ... consideration of and participation in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's 287(g) program or other enforcement of immigration laws."

"We want to know, and the public needs to know, the structure of the program," said Holly Dickson, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union.

The request included: Contracts, draft and final memorandums of understanding, training, implementation, citizen inquiries and comments, opinion letters or research, communications with Homeland Security and internal communications relating to the enforcement of immigration laws, including through the 287(g) program.

Wendy Shumate said she had an e-mail file on her computer with close to 100 e-mail from Rogers residents regarding the city's proposed participation with the 287(g) program, 99.9 percent of which were favorable. Shumate is the assistant to the Rogers mayor. She and Ben Lipscomb, Rogers city attorney, gathered documents Thursday to comply with the request.

Dickson described the FOIA requests as an information-gathering effort and said there are no plans for legal action designed to halt or delay the program.

Officials with the four agencies learned last week officers are scheduled to travel to Boston on Monday to begin federal 287(g) training.

Rogers Mayor Steve Womack said the FOIA requests didn't bother him and would have no effect on his city's pursuit to gain approval to the federal program.

"They are not involved in our decision-making process," Womack said.

Six Rogers police officers are scheduled to travel to Boston on Monday and the FOIA would not change that, said Chief Steve Helms, Rogers Police.

Springdale Police are scheduled to send five officers to Boston on Monday for the training.

"This should not affect our participation in a program, or sending officers for ICE training," said Kathy O'Kelley, Springdale police chief, adding that the department will comply with the request.

Dickson called the 287(g) program a bad idea and said law enforcement officials have other tools at their disposal, but many agencies do not use them.

The Law Enforcement Support Center has a hotline for law enforcement officials that provides information regarding the status of immigrants.

However, Helms said the system is somewhat tricky in that officers have to be exact with all details.

If there is a hyphen in someone's name and it's not included in the request, then the request won't return any results. Also, if someone is illegal and has a warrant on them, the officer will not be told of this, they will simply not get a report back.

The 287(g) training will provide access to better information, Helms said.

"In law enforcement, it's all information," Helms said. "The more we have, the easier it is to do our job."

The training will also give officers a foundation in immigration law, which can be complex, Helms said.



Steve Caraway contributed to this report.



AT A GLANCE

Who are citizens?

People born in U.S. Territories, such as Puerto Rico, Saipan, American Samoa, and the Mariana, Marshall and Virgin Islands are granted U.S. citizenship at birth and are not defined as immigrants. A person born on a foreign vessel in a U.S. port or sailing in the territorial waters of the United States acquire U.S. citizenship at birth, as do those born on a plane in the United States or flying over its territory.

http://www.arkansasnews.com/archive/200 ... 43057.html

Rogers and Springdale Police departments, and the sheriffs' offices in Benton and Washington counties received Freedom Of Information Act requests from lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas on Thursday "for all documents and records relating to the ... consideration of and participation in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's 287(g) program or other enforcement of immigration laws."

"We want to know, and the public needs to know, the structure of the program," said Holly Dickson, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union

...the ACLU doing what it always does...blocking actions by American Citizens and citizen backed administrations from carrying out the will of the people by suits, blocking and voluminuous record requests in order to promote the ACLU's socialist and anti-American agenda.

Unbelievable isn't it? Now the ACLU is questioning the 287(g) program.

Is there worth in ferreting out the details of who is funding (and what amounts) BOTH La Raza and the ACLU? You know the old saying...follow the money. I do want to be damn sure that neither of these two despicable organizations is receiving any federal funding. There is a bill H.R. 1999, that is stalled in committe, that proposes to grant LaRaza $10 million dollars.