Sheriff: Two ready for ICE training
Liz Mitchell
Culpeper Star Exponent
Friday, June 22, 2007


It’s a wait-and-see game with Immigrations Customs Enforcement but Sheriff H. Lee Hart told the Public Safety Committee Thursday that he has two employees ready for training.

In September 2006, Hart first began discussions with ICE regarding enforcement opportunities for localities and the challenge of jail space if arresting undocumented citizens becomes the norm.

Discussions over the past year have primarily been exploratory but Sheriff’s Lt. Brad Sullivan said all the paperwork is filled out and ready to go if ICE makes training available.

ICE training would allow local law enforcement officers to take suspected illegal immigrants into custody only as a result of the officer’s daily duties.

The Immigration and Nationality Act, Section 287(g), allows the federal government to enter into agreements with state and local law enforcement agencies that would permit designated officers to perform immigration law enforcement functions provided they receive appropriate training.

Last year, ICE only offered a training session in Oklahoma. While it will pay for the training and costs associated with sending local law enforcement, it tries to provide sessions by state, Sullivan said. ICE has not named any new training opportunities in the near future.

However, it knows Culpeper is interested should training become available, Sullivan said.

Currently if the Sheriff’s Office comes into contact with people who aren’t American citizens, it is required to fill out a form and submit it to ICE.

“This form is sent to an ICE representative and they determine whether or not this individual is wanted for a crime in this country and then they will evaluate whether or not this person should be deported,â€