Thread: County: Federal officials must deal with illegal immigration

http://www.salisburypost.com/area/2942295136253.php

County: Federal officials must deal with illegal immigration

By Jessie Burchette
Salisbury Post

How bad is the illegal immigration problem in Rowan County?
No one is sure, but its bad enough that county officials are feeling the heat from the public.
County officials say they don't have their heads buried in the sand, but illegal immigration is a federal problem — the county can't patrol the Mexican border.
Top county officials are feeling the wrath of the public in phone calls and e-mails.
County commissioners and top law enforcement officers talked about the public wrath Tuesday night and tried to get across a message —illegal immigration is a federal responsibility — not a county responsibility.
"We're not the border patrol," said Commissioner Jim Sides.
Chairman Arnold Chamberlain said many people concerned about illegals aren't being reasonable. He said he's tired of hearing, "I won't vote for you unless you do something about illegals."
Chamberlain said it's gotten so out of hand, that last week County Manager Bill Cowan got a blistering e-mail and the writer concluded that he won't vote for Cowan if he doesn't deal with illegal aliens.
Sheriff George Wilhelm said he has no idea how many illegal aliens are in Rowan County — and his focus is on the "criminal illegal aliens," the ones repeatedly convicted of felonies.
Currently 22 percent of his jail population is Hispanic, but Wilhelm did not indicate whether they are illegal or otherwise.
Wilhelm and Sides sounded almost identical views on the plight of the county and local law enforcement.
"The federal government needs to enforce its own laws and not put immigration on our backs," said Sides.
Wilhlem said that in other parts of the country, state law enforcement agencies have taken the lead role in handling the problems. He wondered aloud why the N.C. Highway Patrol or other state agencies aren't bearing the burden. "For some reason, in North Carolina, the monkey is being put on the backs of the sheriff's departments."
Beyond the political heat and frustration over the lack of federal action, commissioners and the sheriff talked about a program that could help deal with part of the illegal immigration problem.
Wilhelm said he's most concerned about the repeat offenders, illegal aliens, convicted of felonies who have been deported and come back.
Currently the sheriff's department doesn't have a quick way of determining if the illegal is a previously convicted felon. By the time they go through the procedure to check with federal agencies, the person can be bonded out and gone.
Sen. Elizabeth Dole met with Wilhelm and other sheriffs last month to talk about a program that would give local law enforcement greater authority to deal with illegal immigrants. The program, 287 (g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, offers a partnership between local and federal agencies.
Mecklenburg County has taken a lead in participating in the program.
Wilhelm said it would provide a direct computer link to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) with access to fingerprint data for convicted felons.
While ICE would pay for multi-week training program for deputies and detention personnel, the county would have pay personnel to fill in while the training is on-going.
While the sheriff made clear he wants to pursue participation in the program, he said the county may not qualify.
The major pitfall is the lack of jail beds. Even with the decision Tuesday night to rent 40 jail beds in Sampson County, the Rowan Detention Center is still badly overcrowded.
And Wilhelm said that once an criminal illegal is identified and detained, the county would have to transport the prisoner to a federal facility. None currently exists in North Carolina.
Commissioners agreed for the sheriff to continue pursuing the program, with a decision to come later on the money issues if the county qualifies.
Wilhelm said he is talking with neighboring sheriffs to see if they can apply as a group, lessening the costs but still gaining the access to federal system, and still be able to identify, hold and deport repeat criminal offenders.

Sounds like something, or somebody, got the attention of the good people of Rowan County. I hope it takes root and spreads.