Thread: WI: Sheriff's department may join immigration crackdown

Posted March 6, 2007


Sheriff's department may join immigration crackdown

By Paul Brinkmann
pbrinkma@greenbaypressgazette.com

The Brown County Sheriff’s Department is among the first law enforcement agencies in Wisconsin to consider training its deputies to crack down on illegal immigrants.


County leaders are only exploring the issue so far. Sheriff Dennis Kocken has requested application materials for the “287g program” with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement division.

Currently, the program includes only 10 departments and 214 officers nationwide, said Michel Gilhooly, division spokesman.

“We have more and more inquiries every day,” Gilhooly said in a recent phone interview. “We have 47 departments in various stages of applying … but I don’t see that any other Wisconsin agencies have formally applied.”

The county’s Public Safety Committee is set to discuss the issue in a meeting at 5 p.m. Wednesday in Room 200 of the Northern Building, 305 E. Walnut St. in downtown Green Bay.

Some members of the local Hispanic community remain opposed to the idea, and plan to attend the meeting tonight, said Chico Ramirez, Latino liaison for the Multicultural Center of Greater Green Bay.

“The overall sentiment of the people here is, we don’t think that’s a good idea, at all,” Ramirez said. “Any kind of trust that the police have built with Hispanic people is all destroyed. You won’t get the same cooperation when you go into the Hispanic communities to talk to the people.”

The biggest concern is that local police might intentionally or inadvertently engage in racial profiling — which means stopping people who simply look Hispanic or not native to the area. But Kocken has said he expects the federal training program would help prevent that.

The 287g program has two levels of training — one for identifying illegal immigrants among jail inmates, and one for investigating illegal immigration in the community.

The Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office in Charlotte, N.C., started the jail program in May. As of Feb. 13, the department identified 2,688 people in its jail not born in the United States. Of that number, 1,400 were found to be illegal. The department either placed a detainer on them for pickup by immigration officers or set a docket date with the federal immigration court in Atlanta.

“We’ve been real pleased with our program here,” said Julie Rush, director of communications.



http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/app ... 06/GPGnews

The biggest concern is that local police might intentionally or inadvertently engage in racial profiling — which means stopping people who simply look Hispanic or not native to the area.

Same old, same old - hiding illegal aliens behind Hispanics. I wonder when the last time Chico Ramirez saw an illegal alien and how quickly he turned him in because he wants to uphold the laws of the United States of America?

Dixie

Posted March 7, 2007


Brown County seeks more info on immigration crackdown

By Paul Brinkmann
pbrinkma@greenbaypressgazette.com

Several members of the Brown County Board said today they want more information about a program to train sheriff’s deputies to enforce federal immigration laws.


Brown County Sheriff Dennis Kocken is just starting to study the program, but already it has some political support. Kocken said he would invite a federal officer from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to the Public Safety Committee’s next meeting, which hasn’t been scheduled.

“People have asked us to do something about illegal immigration. Here is something we can do,” Supervisor Harold Kaye said. “We need more information, but I think people would support this.”

Kocken briefly outlined the federal 287g program in front of the Public Safety Committee this evening. He acknowledged there’s still much to learn about the program. The sheriff said some level of federal training, especially in the county jail, would be valuable.

“If there’s a way we can expedite (removal of) illegal immigrants who are criminals, I think that would be very worthwhile,” Kocken said.

Doubts about the program were also raised in interviews with members of the audience.

“This would be a fundamental change in the sheriff’s duties,” said the Rev. Bill Ribbens, a member of St. Norbert Abbey and Hispanic outreach volunteer with Catholic Charities.

Fernando Campos, a member of the Mayor of Green Bay’s Hispanic Advisory Council, said he doesn’t believe the general public wants local deputies investigating illegal immigrants when they could be stopping violent crime or keeping roads safe.

“Without these undocumented workers, many local businesses would go bankrupt — for example, dairy farms and packing plants,” Campos said.

Peter Kellogg, local representative for the American Civil Liberties Union, said he has serious concerns.

“I start with the assumption that undocumented workers are here because we need them — we have a labor shortage,” Kellogg said. “My great concern is, if they do patrol investigations, that would send a wave of fear through the community. Many people could become reluctant to call police in an emergency.”

Former Waukesha County District Attorney Paul Bucher has also pushed for 287g training for local deputies.

In other business, Brown County District Attorney John Zakowski told the committee his office can assemble a Web site listing local drug crimes and drug offenders, but he needs more guidance about what the County Board is looking for.

Supervisor Guy Zima proposed the drug crimes Web site. Zakowski’s administrative assistant, Susan Tilot, said the program would require about 80 hours of database designing by county staff.

Zakowski warned, however, that listing drug crimes by address or location could cast a certain address in an unfair light if a drug criminal lived there only temporarily. He also said drug dealers might use the information to find new customers.

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/app ... 06/GPGnews