http://www.t-g.com/story/1188067.html

Deputies may help deport illegals
Saturday, February 3, 2007
By Clint Confehr

Five illegal immigrants' arrest at a Shelbyville construction site last week raised more questions than answers, but steps being taken by the Bedford County Sheriff's Department provide understanding and the prospect of relief for other county departments.
Reducing the number of students in county schools who are the children of illegal immigrants is, at the least, a potential result of a federal program being explored by Larry Lowman, chief administrator at the Bedford County Sheriff's Department.

Within a year two deputies could be processing foreign criminals for deportation, a job now done by federal officers, Lowman says.

The program "is targeted at the criminal, but it stands to reason that if the father goes, the wife and children will go with them," said Doug Bodary, a field consultant with the University of Tennessee's County Technical Assistance Service who presented the program to Lowman.

It also means there's a greater likelihood of reducing the number of repeat offenders here from other countries where there are different assumptions about what's legal in day-to-day life. That could increase public safety and reduce the workload for city police, county deputies and the courts.

The program

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the Department of Homeland Security has acknowledged that local law enforcement officers often encounter foreign-born criminals and immigration violators who pose a threat to public safety.

The secretary of homeland security can enter into agreements with local agencies so local officers can perform immigration law enforcement functions. Lowman is working toward a so-called memorandum of agreement.

However, Lowman and Bodary are quick to point out that the focus is on processing those already arrested for crimes through routine police work, not apprehending suspected illegal immigrants.

"They'll only be processing people who are already in jail," Bodary said. "Once they're in, they can run a background check."

Major crimes aren't typical of cases to be handled by these officers, Lowman said.

ICE will supervise local officers' functions as they exercise their new authority on immigration cases. Those would include making sure that an illegal alien isn't released from jail to the local population after completing their sentence.

For example, "Florida's Collier County deputy sheriffs arrested 20 individuals attempting to purchase fraudulently obtained state drivers licenses," ICE reports. "All ... were convicted ... and the 18 illegal aliens [among the 20 people arrested] were removed from the U.S. after serving their sentences."

"Bedford County has a highly diversified population," Lowman said. "That lends itself to having more people who are to be deported."

Lowman foresees approximately three deputies will be selected for federally-paid training at the ICE Academy, which will last about a month. ICE-related computer programs will also be provided by the federal government.

He points out that simple steps can shorten daily court dockets.

For example, right now an illegal alien who's sentenced for driving while intoxicated will probably have a suspended license when released after serving their sentence. Many continue to drive, and are eventually with driving on a suspended license, Lowman said. If the offender is deported, he or she won't have the chance to commit the second offense.

There are, of course, examples of more serious crimes which attract prosecutors' attention and more deliberate steps toward deportation.

The five arrests

Immigration laws are being enforced in Bedford County.

ICE arrested five illegal aliens Tuesday at a Madison Street construction site, Sgt. Bill Logue of the Shelbyville Police Department said.

Information received by the Times-Gazette indicated the men didn't have the appropriate work papers.

A report of what Logue told the Times-Gazette was e-mailed to ICE spokesman Temple Black of the Homeland Security district office in New Orleans.

"Of the five men interviewed by ICE agents: one was determined to be an illegal re-entry; One is a ... visa overstay, and; The other three had entered the U.S. without inspection," Black reported. "Since the five Hispanic males had been interviewed and a determination of status made, all five were arrested on administrative charges. All five will be processed for removal to their home country."

The "investigation is still on-going," Black said when asked if charges will be filed against the workers' employer.

Citing "privacy act issues," Black could not release the aliens' names, although the Times-Gazette was told by another official that one is Jose Guadalupe Gonzalez Lopez.

Black said all five men arrested were from Mexico.

Black's responses illustrate "something strange that I found out," Lowman said Friday when it was noted that a U.S. citizen's arrest is a public record.

"Once they [illegal immigrants] cross the border into this country, they're to be treated as human beings and have more rights to privacy than American citizens," Lowman said.

Black didn't have an immediate answer to that. He was to check with ICE attorneys.

Lowman has been cleared by the FBI to work toward the memorandum of agreement with ICE so deputies can process defendants, as named in county and state court papers, who will be deported after serving their jail or prison sentences.

Lowman emphasized that there's a great deal of work to be accomplished before Sheriff Randall Boyce will have officers working alongside ICE agen