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Illegal immigration frustrates local law enforcement

Published: Sunday, January 13, 2008 - 6:28 am


By Paul Alongi
STAFF WRITER

Local law enforcement agents say they can't enforce federal immigration law, so they've had to go through the frustrating experience of watching illegal aliens walk free.

But with homeland security duties, traffic laws and everything else, police departments and sheriff's offices would need more officers if they're going to add illegal immigration to their list of responsibilities, said Alisa Mosley, executive director of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Officers Association.

"There comes a breaking point," she said. "You just cannot keep piling stuff on local law enforcement and expect them to effectively deal with all this."

With the presidential candidates in the state, voters have made it known that illegal immigration is one of their top issues. It's something that's long been a source of frustration for local law enforcement.

Cpl. Jason Rampey of the Greenville Police Department said that he arrested an illegal alien on gun and drug charges about a year ago, only to see him make bond and go free. The suspect, whose name he wouldn't release, was arrested twice more on other charges and posted bond both times before disappearing, Rampey said.

"He's on the lam," said Rampey, who used to be on a federal gun task force. "There's no telling where he is."

It takes a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent to charge someone as an illegal alien. But Rampey said the agents are overwhelmed and that he wouldn't expect them to respond except in the most serious cases, such as when an illegal alien is charged in a homicide.

A spokesman for the agency, Richard Rocha, said agents work closely with local law enforcement and prioritize cases to ensure public safety. He wouldn't say how many ICE agents are in the Upstate, citing security concerns.

But U.S. Rep. Bob Inglis, R-Travelers Rest, said in October 2005 that the Upstate had six ICE officers to deal with as many as 50,000 illegal immigrants in the region. The state as a whole had 22 agents, Inglis reported.

"Only felons and immigrants released from prisons for other felony convictions are arrested," according to Inglis.

About 12 million illegal immigrants are in the country. Inglis estimated last summer that it would cost $200 billion to deport 80 percent of the illegal population over five years.

Republican leaders in the state House have proposed legislation that would give the State Law Enforcement Division the power to enforce federal immigration laws. A SLED spokeswoman declined comment.

Tammy Besherse, an attorney for the South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center, fears the new law could lead to racial profiling and deter battered women from seeking help. And in some cases, it could discourage illegal immigrants from tipping off police to crimes, she said.

"They may be afraid for themselves," Besherse said.

Part of the state GOP proposal would allow the state to deport, at the federal government's expense, illegal aliens who commit crimes.

There's precedent for that, Rocha said.

Thirty-four agencies have participated in a program to certify local officers to enforce federal immigration law, he said.

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