YES YES!!! WONDERFUL NEWS FOR WAUKEGAN!! FINALLY!!!

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/news ... S1.article

Waukegan seeks ICE certification

May 30, 2007
BY CRAIG PETERSON Special to the News-Sun

WAUKEGAN -- Although federal courts have hampered local municipalities in implementing immigration laws, "Waukegan is not standing still," according to Mayor Richard Hyde.

The city is engaged in efforts to become certified in enforcing federal immigration laws through Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, Deputy Police Chief Dan Greathouse said.

Through the 287(g) voluntary program, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement offers state and local law enforcement training and authorization to identify and detain immigration offenders encountered during normal law enforcement activities.

Waukegan has been working with 287(g) program management, Greathouse said, but since the law was created primarily for border states like California, Arizona and Texas, at present certification has been limited to 20 municipalities in those states.

Another major hurdle in certification is allocating holding and detention space for suspects, Greathouse said. Federal standards require more incarceration space for arrestees and detainees, he noted.

"We don't have the room to house people after we arrest them," Greathouse said.

Although Waukegan is not certified with 287(g) authority, Greathouse said the department still uses ICE resources and databases in identifying criminal immigrants and deporting them.

"The number of people Waukegan has deported is staggering," Hyde said, although he did not provide a specific figure.

Police Chief Bill Biang said the number of deportations Waukegan has made are available, because many arrestees are incarcerated in the Lake County Jail well in advance of being deported.

In deporting immigrants deemed to be a flight risk, repeat offender or a threat to local or national security, Biang said his department draws no distinction in whether immigrants are here illegally or legally.

Waukegan will be at the head of the line when federal ICE authorities begin certifying law enforcement agencies in non-border states, he said.