Results 1 to 2 of 2

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

  1. #1
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    PARADISE (San Diego)
    Posts
    99,040

    TX. Travis County sheriff says he will not stop using ICE Secure Communities program

    Travis County sheriff says he will not stop using ICE program

    Ashley Goudeau, KVUE 6:53 p.m. CDT June 27, 2014


    Travis County sheriff says he will not stop using ICE program KVUE

    AUSTIN -- "I will continue to honor ICE detainers," said Travis County Sheriff Greg Hamilton on Friday afternoon.

    The Austin City Council made an unanimous decision at Thursday's meeting to oppose the use of Travis County resources, including tax dollars, for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Secure Communities Program. The resolution also asks Travis County to stop participating.


    "This issue is about people, it's about community, and it's about us taking a stance and saying that $7 million a year of your tax payer dollars is going to a facility that uses this program; that is ripping families apart," said Council Member Mike Martinez Thursday.


    Before the vote, Martinez, Mayor Pro-Tem Sheryl Cole, Council Members Laura Morrison and numerous community organizations spoke out against S-Comm.


    "It diverts precious federal dollars and local dollars from pursuing the dangerous people, and it goes toward splitting up families, putting more people on public assistance roles because the breadwinner's now been deported from the family. These are policies that hurt our community," said Richard Jung, a partner with business and immigration law firm Jung Ko.


    Under S-Comm, the sheriff must send fingerprints of suspects to an FBI database, but holding suspects at ICE's request for up to 48 hours while their immigration status is checked is optional. The end result can be deportation.


    "ICE can only put the detainer and get them to a hearing. There's an United States attorney general that prosecutes the case," said Hamilton. "That attorney general knows what the presidential priorities are. Then there's a federal judge that determines whether or not that individual is going to be deported. That federal judge knows what the priorities are. So, I believe these people are meeting the priorities set."

    City leaders say in Travis County 19 people are deported each week and claim many are non-violent criminals.

    Sheriff Greg Hamilton provided KVUE News with a list of the 236 inmates in jail Friday on INS detainers. Their offenses range from DWI and possession of marijuana, to sexual assault of a child and murder. Some are repeat offenders.


    Hamilton says the argument that the program tears families apart is biased.


    "From the time that secure communities started, oh I guess it was December of 2012 there was 4,200 individuals that were deported from the Travis County area. During that same time there was 12,232 people that went to the penitentiary. Nobody's talking about those families being broken up," Hamilton said.


    The resolution passed by City Council also states that if the county continues to participate in the program, the city manager has to research options to minimize or replace the city's use of the county's booking facility. Austin Police Department accounts for 74 percent of the people booked in the county jail, but Hamilton says the jail will function without them, as it has in the past.


    "The city had a jail, a magistration before. And that's all the city is going to do is magistrate those individuals and then they're going to bring them over to our jail because we are long term," explained Hamilton.


    The U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in March that law enforcement agencies aren't required to comply with the program, partly because they can be sued for violating people's 4th amendment rights.


    "ICE is asking Travis County to hold people on these detainers for 48 hours but the detainers are not based on probable cause," said University of Texas Clinical Law Professor Ranjana Natarajan. "Several people from around the country have come forward in lawsuits saying 'I'm a US citizen, they got it wrong. I wasn't supposed to be held at all.'"

    Hamilton said those types of lawsuits have not happened in Travis County, and the ruling doesn't apply to him.

    "That's in a different jurisdiction. Our appellate court is the Fifth Circuit," said Hamilton. "Once the Fifth Circuit and the Supreme Court, when they tell me that its unconstitutional, I will step down."


    Hamilton also said Washington should step in. "It's time for congress to step up and do some type of reform and to make it very clear. But my job is to maintain the safety and security in this community."


    The Austin City Council will hear a presentation on jail facilities at its meeting in August.

    http://www.kvue.com/story/news/local...gram/11557623/

    NO AMNESTY

    Don't reward the criminal actions of millions of illegal aliens by giving them citizenship.


    Sign in and post comments here.

    Please support our fight against illegal immigration by joining ALIPAC's email alerts here https://eepurl.com/cktGTn

  2. #2
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Posts
    3,185
    I applaud the sheriff, and am not surprised about the Council of another sanctuary city, Reading names of individuals here, I might wonder not if Texas is a red or blue state, but one of brown.

Similar Threads

  1. Will county drop 287 (g) for Secure Communities program?
    By JohnDoe2 in forum illegal immigration News Stories & Reports
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 04-14-2012, 05:09 PM
  2. Santa Clara County to opt out of Secure Communities program
    By topsecret10 in forum illegal immigration News Stories & Reports
    Replies: 11
    Last Post: 11-15-2010, 01:09 PM
  3. Dallas County is part of Secure Communities program that rai
    By Jean in forum illegal immigration News Stories & Reports
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 07-25-2010, 02:39 AM
  4. Sarasota County joins ICE Secure Communities Program
    By JohnDoe2 in forum illegal immigration News Stories & Reports
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 04-14-2010, 06:18 PM
  5. Monterey County CA. joins I.C.E. Secure Communities Program
    By JohnDoe2 in forum illegal immigration News Stories & Reports
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 04-07-2010, 12:26 PM

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •