Impacts of County Immigration Enforcement

Posted: 1:07 AM May 6, 2009
Last Updated: 1:07 AM May 6, 2009
Reporter: Haley Harrison

Less than two years ago, Valley law enforcement set out to crack down on undocumented immigrants by training a handful of officers as federal agents. The program is called 287(g). Activists and the sheriffs department disagree on the impact of the program but they agree illegal immigration begins with the area's thriving poultry and agriculture industries.

Rockingham County's Corporal Dave Lester and Investigator Lewis Royston belong to a growing police force in the country.


They are local police and sheriff's deputies trained as federal immigration agents. Four local officers have been trained under the 287(g) program, one of eight such programs in virginia. It's given officers like Lester and Royston the authority to check the immigration status of 730 arrestees and detain 263 people since August 2007.

Rockingham County Sheriff Don Farley says it's a success.

"The person that's here supporting their family and being a productive member of society need not worry about 287(g) and Don Farley," says Farley. "The person that's here illegally and committing crimes in this community, those are the ones that need look over their shoulder."

But hispanic community activist and chair of the Hispanic Services Council, Rick Castaneda says the program does more harm than good.

"People are much less likely to report a crime or to serve as a witness to a crime or to come forward and talk with law enforcement if there's any concerns or problems in a community because of immigration issues," says Castaneda.

For that reason Farley says they target only certain criminals, a stance that has others calling him *soft on crime. Officers detain criminals who are also undocumented immigrants if they are repeat offenders, charged with DUI or some other misdemeanors or charged with a felony. Documented immigrants can be detained through the program if convicted of a serious crime.

"I believe the way we're doing it here by looking at the criminal element and focusing the authority of 287(g) on the criminal element I believe is the right way for Don Farley to do it for Rockingham County and the city of Harrisonburg," says Farley.

The Valley has become a magnet for immigration.

"I believe that the word has gotten out that our community will support illegal immigrants by giving them jobs and that's where I truly believe it falls on the employer. They need to do all they can to make sure the people they're employing are here under legal status" says Farley.

In late April, the Obama administration started instructing immigration agents to go after employers who knowingly hire and exploit illegal workers. However, Farley says he's not going after businesses that hire undocumented workers unless a complaint is filed.

Castaneda says corporate America should be taking blame for illegal immigration instead of targeting individual immigrants.

"A lot of people make bad decisions based on desperation and if we make relevant laws based on the situation that's happening in our country, it would decrease the incidence of these black market industries popping up and abuses of US law and abuses of immigrants coming into our country to give us the goods and services we take advantage of every single day," says Castaneda.

Shenandoah county also has a 287(g) program. Since it started in 2007, 42 people have been detained. Sheriff Tim Carter says those detainees were almost exclusively from Mexico.

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