Thread: Las Vegas Police Get High Marks for Illegal Alien Program

Metro Police Get High Marks for Illegal Immigrant Program

Posted: Jan 31, 2011 8:43 PM PST Updated: Jan 31, 2011 11:00 PM PST

LAS VEGAS - At the Clark County Detention Center, a program known as 287g has been in place for more than two years.

"287g is actually a section of the immigration law that allows local agencies to perform specified immigration functions and perform in conjunction with ICE," said Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Lt. Rich Forbus.

Under the 287g agreement, local officers can place detainers on illegal immigrants who are taken to jail and report them to federal immigration authorities.

According to a report by the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute, in some parts of the country, some illegal immigrants who commit even minor offenses are being turned over to federal authorities for deportation.

Metro says it reports only the most violent criminal illegal immigrants.

"We look at criminal offenders. We're not looking at placing a detainer on somebody that's in here for traffic with no other criminal history. We will still screen that person to find out what their history (is), but our focus is on higher level offenders," Lt. Forbus said.

The Migration Policy Institute recognized the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department as an exemplary agency for the way it handles 287g. The program, however, is not without controversy.

"It's controversial in that it deals with immigration, which is a hot button topic in this region of the country and every region of the country for that matter," Lt. Forbus said. "It's working for us, because we're targeting criminal offenders. We're looking to make our community a safer place.

The sheriff's vision, the department's vision of making Las Vegas the safest community in America uses this as one of our tools to do that."

Since the local-federal 287g partnership began in November 2008, Metro has identified 7,988 illegal immigrants at the Clark County Detention Center. Police say they did not report 2,804 illegal immigrant inmates to the federal government, because the immigrants were arrested for minor offenses. Metro officials say the department reported 5,184 undocumented inmates to ICE.

http://www.8newsnow.com/story/13943946/ ... nt-program

Police say they did not report 2,804 illegal immigrant inmates to the federal government, because the immigrants were arrested for minor offenses.

Hmmm, what's wrong with this picture?

Metro officials say the department reported 5,184 undocumented inmates to ICE.

Nevada now has 9 of 17 counties enrolled in the I.C.E. Secure Communities Program so that everyone booked into county jail has their fingerprints automatically run in the I.C.E. fingerprint database.

Clark County (Las Vegas) was enrolled July 27, 2010.

Washoe County (Reno) was enrolled July 13, 2010.

They usually release the numbers on the first anniversary.

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

Metro officials say the department reported 5,184 undocumented inmates to ICE.

Yep, and I wonder how many went unreported because their crime was not considered serious enough?

Metro says it reports only the most violent criminal illegal immigrants.

What's being reported is great, it's what isn't being reported that worries me.

Originally Posted by Mickey

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

Metro officials say the department reported 5,184 undocumented inmates to ICE.

Yep, and I wonder how many went unreported because their crime was not considered serious enough?

[quote:1eeukefu]Metro says it reports only the most violent criminal illegal immigrants.

What's being reported is great, it's what isn't being reported that worries me.[/quote:1eeukefu]

Ditto that! How right you are....

Just as congress and the white house tells I.C.E. what to do I.C.E. tells the cops what to do.
If I.C.E. isn't allowed to pick up people with certain low level crimes it makes no sense for the cops
to report them to I.C.E. when they won't pick them up anway.
It would be nice to get rid of all of them, but it's not happening.
The problem isn't the L.V.P.D. it's congress and the white house.

Actually, it makes perfect sense for local police to continue to report to I.C.E, even if they do not pick up these so called "low level" offenders. Too many times, it's that "low level" offender who goes on to commit a high level offense, resulting in the death of an American.

What comes next is a tumultuous; back and forth finger pointing in attempt to deflect blame. The local agency blames I.C.E and vice versa. We've seen it too many times before. Therefore, local agencies must continue to report and document, even if I.C.E refuses to uphold their end of the deal.

NoBueno wrote:

Actually, it makes perfect sense for local police to continue to report to I.C.E, even if they do not pick up these so called "low level" offenders. Too many times, it's that "low level" offender who goes on to commit a high level offense, resulting in the death of an American.

Well said, NoBueno! A local police department shouldn't have discretionary power that would enable them to pick and choose which illegals are reported, and which aren't. They should report them all and allow ICE to make the decision. If such were the case, their integrity would never come into question where illegal alien apprehensions are concerned. ICE and President Obama failures are no excuse for local law enforcement to be neglectful in their duties.

I.C.E. already makes the decision.
They don't pick up people who have only minor arrest on their record.
They tell the police what crimes to report to them and what not to bother them with.
I.C.E. is calling the shots, not the local police.