Thread: Sheriff's position on immigration enforcement gets scrutiny

Sheriff's position on immigration enforcement gets scrutiny

August 23, 2008 - 9:32PM
Robert Boyer / Times-News
A recent clash about local immigration enforcement has stirred scrutiny over whether Sheriff Terry Johnson has strayed from statements he initially made about his department's use of 287 (g), the federal program that trains and authorizes local officers as Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

The clash boiled over on Aug. 4, when Commissioner Chairman Larry Sharpe said the year-old 287 (g) had "gotten out of control" in Alamance County and is "targeting people for minor violations."

Sharpe said the targeting came after the sheriff appeared before the commissioners "and promised he wouldn't do that."

Johnson said his office is doing exactly as promised and doesn't profile anyone. He added that his deputies treat everyone the same but won't turn a blind eye to any crime.

"The only way you get processed under the 287 (g) program is if you come to jail on another violation and you are foreign-born," he told Sharpe during a spirited exchange that came toward the end of a board of commissioners' meeting.

Federal Immigration and Enforcement agents, not his deputies, decide whether to process someone for deportation, Johnson said.

"What have we done that we said we wouldn't do?" he asked.

A check of arrest statistics and Johnson's earlier statements to the Times-News and other media outlets were gathered regarding the sheriff's positions on 287 (g).

Some examples:

n An April 28, 2007 Times-News story reported that "Sheriff Terry Johnson has said that the department will not target Hispanics, but any illegal immigrants who are convicted fugitives, gang members or drug traffickers."

n In an April 29, 2007 Times-News story, Johnson said that contrary to rumors about 287 (g), "we're not going to mess with any misdemeanor stuff" in Alamance County.

n An excerpt from a Sept. 11, 2007, Times-News story reads: "Some immigration activists worry that 287 (g) unfairly targets Hispanics here legally and illegal immigrants who are otherwise law-abiding. Johnson has said repeatedly that his office is only interested in targeting illegal visitors who are committing serious crimes."

n According to a story from the News & Observer of Raleigh that ran in the Times-News on Nov. 15, 2007: "In Alamance (County), the percentage of traffic violators (processed through the 287 (g) program) may be as high as 37 percent. According to Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson, 670 people have been processed for removal or sent letters ordering them to appear in immigration court."

n The same N&O story detailed the case of a Leticia Jaimes Avila, a Haw River woman who moved to the county illegally from Mexico six years before her arrest on a charge of driving without a license.

"Johnson said that for every person like Jaimes, his officers also see convicted sex offenders, immigrants charged with robberies and other serious crimes," the N&O story continued. "He has to check everyone who comes into his jail, no matter what they're charged with. Besides, Jaimes committed a crime by driving in North Carolina without a license, he said."

n In June of this year, a sheriff's deputy arrested Maria Chavira Ventura on Interstate 85/40 shortly before 2 a.m. Ventura, whose actual name is Maria Mejia, was charged with driving without a license and displaying a false license plate. Sheriff's spokesman Randy Jones said the deputy arrested Mejia after she failed to produce a license or identification. Sheriff Johnson said the deputy checked Mejia's tag after her car passed him. Mejia has said her three children were left on the side of the road for eight hours after the family friend the deputy left them abandoned the car. Johnson said Mejia gave the deputy permission to leave them with the friend through her 14-year-old daughter, who was translating for the deputy. Mejia and her daughter reportedly dispute this. Mejia has since been moved to an Alabama jail for deportation, a federal immigration official has said.

n In a July 5 Times-News story, a sheriff's sergeant reported that of the 235 people placed on illegal immigration detainers through the Alamance County jail for 2008, 164 were charged with traffic violations, mostly driving without a license. A number of those processed at the county jail come from other counties, Sheriff's spokesman Randy Jones said recently.



ON THURSDAY, Johnson insisted he isn't going back on his earlier promises. "What I said, was that the Alamance County Sheriff's Office, we were concerned ... (about) the felons and serious criminal violators. But when you come in that jail I have no control ... We normally arrest for no operator's license and we normally arrest for DWI," the sheriff said. "And I mentioned serious traffic violations."

When it comes to traffic offenses, whether to arrest typically boils down to whether the driver can present a driver's license or some other form of valid identification, not the ethnicity of those stopped, the sheriff said. "We bring regular citizens to jail for no operator's license," Johnson said. "If there's no operator's license, DWI, fictitious registration on an automobile and they don't have identification of any kind, yes, they come to jail ... If they come in this jail under any circumstances and they are foreign-born, they are going to be processed."

Commissioner Ann Vaughan remains unconvinced. "I think it appears that he's doing something different," Vaughan said.

Vaughan said she doesn't know whether Johnson's office is profiling or targeting Hispanics and is "trying to keep an open mind" about the issue."I would like to say he's not." Vaughan wants the board of commissioners to "try to keep track of what's going on over there," and wants the sheriff's office "to be a lot more transparent than it is."

Vaughan added that she would like to hold anonymous "one-on-one" discussions with patrol deputies and jailers so she can be better informed.

Commissioner Tim Sutton has said he is satisfied with the program.

On Friday, Commissioner Vice-chairman Dan Ingle said he is pleased with the 287 (g) program and continues to support it. Commissioner Bill Lashley didn't immediately return a call seeking comment, but has previously supported the program.



http://www.thetimesnews.com/news/johnso ... ation.html

The clash boiled over on Aug. 4, when Commissioner Chairman Larry Sharpe said the year-old 287 (g) had "gotten out of control" in Alamance County and is "targeting people for minor violations."

Sharpe said the targeting came after the sheriff appeared before the commissioners "and promised he wouldn't do that."

There is at least one (illegal alien advocate) on every town council.