Thread: NW Ark. police agencies want in on deporting illegal immigra

NW Ark. police agencies want in on deporting illegal immigrants


SPRINGDALE, Ark. - Four police agencies in northwest Arkansas have applied for federal authority to detain illegal immigrants who commit crimes and to help deport them from the United States.

Springdale, Rogers, Washington County and Benton County have applied for the program, which gives state and local officials authority to question illegal immigrants and initiate the deportation process.

The program covers illegal immigrants arrested on misdemeanors and felonies, as well as those in the country on expired work or student visas.

The Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation estimates that about 50,000 illegal immigrants live in Arkansas. In April, federal agents visited city and county jails in northwest Arkansas and said the facilities were sufficient to house and operate federal computer systems.

If the four agencies are accepted into the program, Benton and Washington counties could have as many as 19 certified agents identifying illegal immigrants, investigating criminal cases and making deportation recommendations to federal judges.

Nationwide, 20 approved programs of 349 trained officers combined are in the program. Applications from 71 agencies are pending.

Agencies in the program have a memorandum of understanding with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Chosen officers attend a four-week training course on immigration law, document examination and how to initiate the removal process.

As elsewhere, local taxpayers fund the program.

Springdale Police Chief Kathy O'Kelley says she plans to ask for five new hires for the program. In Rogers, Police Chief Steve Helms plans to ask for six new hires. Washington County Sheriff Tim Helder expects to ask for four new deputies, and Benton County Sheriff Keith Ferguson says he would have four deputies who would perform their regular duties as well as the immigration investigations.

The programs in Springdale, Benton and Washington counties would make immigration inquiries only of those who are arrested.

Rogers is considering having officers ask about immigration at the scene of an arrest or traffic stop. Hispanic leaders in Rogers say that approach could be used to harass motorists.

Ana Hart, the former Hispanic outreach coordinator for Tyson Foods Inc. in Springdale, says state and local agencies are having to consider the federal program because Congress has yet to solve the problem.

"This is a response to the frustration with legislators not being able to address illegal immigration from the top," she says.

Information from: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, http://www.arkansasonline.com

http://www.pbcommercial.com/articles/20 ... m4qco0.txt

Officials discuss formation of immigration task force
By Tracy M. Neal Staff Writer // tracyn@nwanews.com

Posted on Wednesday, July 25, 2007


BENTONVILLE — Representatives of local lawenforcement agencies met Tuesday with U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to discuss whether to form a task force assigned to immigration issues.

The Rogers Police Department, the Benton County Sheriff’s Office, the Springdale Police Department and the Washington County Sheriff’s Office have each expressed interest in ICE’s 287 (g ) program.

Section 287 (g ) of the 1996 Immigration and Nationality Act allows local law-enforcement officers to question and detain individuals for potential deportation. A section of the law also allows law-enforcement agencies to form a task force.

WCSO Chief Deputy Jay Cantrell — who attended the meeting — described the meeting as an informative one between ICE officials and representatives of the various agencies.

Cantrell said he believes ICE officials saw that four agencies in the same area are interested in the program and think the task-force concept might be the right approach.

Benton County Sheriff Keith Ferguson said it was a good meeting, and he believes immigration officials looked favorably on the taskforce concept.

The process is still in the planning stages, Ferguson said. If accepted, the task force may be one of the first in the United States.

There will more meetings between ICE officials and the law-enforcement agencies, Ferguson said.

Cantrell said the task force would allow the agencies to partner with ICE and have access to ICE’s database, which would give law enforcement quicker access to information on whether someone is in the country illegally.

Cantrell said the task force could be an effective crimefighting tool and could lead to arrests in serious crimes involving gang activity or drug trafficking.

The WSCO is interested in cooperating with other agencies, Cantrell said.

He said the WSCO already participates in a terrorism task force and works with the Drug Enforcement Administration in a drug-crimes task force.

The WSCO had planned to assign four deputies when officials expressed interest in having the program in the county jail, Cantrell said. The Sheriff’s Office has not decided on the number of deputies to assign to the task force, but he knows it could not be more than four deputies, he said.

Benton County Chief Deputy Don Townsend previously said that if the task force is implemented, his office would assign four deputies.

Ferguson said the deputies assigned to the task force will be jailers because he does not have the manpower yet in the patrol division.

http://www.nwanews.com/bcdr/News/51642/