cheka.
20th February 2017, 10:35 AM
at least 38 already in the program...and at least 13 more (in texas alone) are in the process of joining
http://www.texaspolicenews.com/default.aspx?act=Newsletter.aspx&category=News+1-2&newsletterid=65987&menugroup=Home
Later this month, federal agents will walk into a windowless, concrete room in the Jackson County jail in East Texas to install a fingerprint machine and a high-speed internet hookup. Once that’s done, Jackson County correctional officers will be able to access federal databases to check whether the people they’ve arrested are undocumented immigrants—and call in the feds if they are.
'Wearing Two Hats'
The Jackson County sheriff applied last year to have his officers cross-designated as federal immigration enforcement officers through a little-known section of the Immigration and Nationality Act law known as 287(g). Late last month, President Trump signed an executive order that aims to revive and beef up the use of 287(g) and give many more local law enforcement agencies the power to act as immigration officers—a controversial move that reflects a larger and ongoing fight over immigration, sanctuary cities and America’s southern border.
The day after Trump inked that executive order and another ordering construction of a border wall, Jackson County signed an agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement that authorized his officers to interrogate suspected undocumented immigrants, serve federal warrants for immigration violations and detain and transport undocumented immigrants.
“You’re an agent of ICE, you’re wearing two hats. You have an ICE booking station where suspected foreign-born would be fingerprinted,” says Jackson County Sheriff A.J. “Andy” Louderback, who wears a white cowboy hat and carries a Colt .45 pistol. “Listen, if you run a correctional facility here in Texas then you should have 287(g).”
Trump called out the 287(g) program during an August speech at the Phoenix Convention Center that slammed then-President Obama, who scrapped agreements that deputized local law enforcement to do street-level immigration enforcement. Trump told the cheering crowd, “We will expand and revitalize the popular 287(g) partnerships, which will help to identify hundreds of thousands of deportable aliens in local jails that we don't even know about.”
Louderback sides with Trump, at least when it comes to immigration enforcement in jails. (It’s unclear whether Trump will bring back street enforcement of federal immigration laws by local law enforcement or if the partnerships will continue to be approved only for use in jails.) “I do not want to release criminal aliens into the community,” Louderback tells Newsweek. “I don’t think the prior administration believed that.”
Another 13 counties near Jackson County, which lies 100 miles from Houston and 260 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, have applied to follow it into a 287(g) partnership, says Louderback. He thinks having more counties onboard will help keep the entire region safe. “Each of us having a direct terminal to ICE ensures that any criminal aliens in adjoining counties wouldn’t get out and move to Jackson County or vice versa.”
287(g) Jurisdictions Expanding
Thirty-eight jurisdictions have the 287(g) designation, from the Massachusetts Department of Corrections to the Las Vegas Police Department. Experts expect that number to grow. “It’s a certainty. They’re coming back,” says Jessica Vaughan, the director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies.
The jails, prisons, sheriff’s offices and police departments who win 287(g) designation obtain a wide range of authority and abilities, including access to ICE and Department of Homeland Security databases so they can quickly check names, fingerprints and photos in order to enforce immigration laws, an ICE official tells Newsweek. “The speed of information is critical,” Louderback says, explaining that his office regularly released a criminal defendant on bond only to later receive an ICE detainer seeking to hold that person.
http://www.texaspolicenews.com/default.aspx?act=Newsletter.aspx&category=News+1-2&newsletterid=65987&menugroup=Home
Later this month, federal agents will walk into a windowless, concrete room in the Jackson County jail in East Texas to install a fingerprint machine and a high-speed internet hookup. Once that’s done, Jackson County correctional officers will be able to access federal databases to check whether the people they’ve arrested are undocumented immigrants—and call in the feds if they are.
'Wearing Two Hats'
The Jackson County sheriff applied last year to have his officers cross-designated as federal immigration enforcement officers through a little-known section of the Immigration and Nationality Act law known as 287(g). Late last month, President Trump signed an executive order that aims to revive and beef up the use of 287(g) and give many more local law enforcement agencies the power to act as immigration officers—a controversial move that reflects a larger and ongoing fight over immigration, sanctuary cities and America’s southern border.
The day after Trump inked that executive order and another ordering construction of a border wall, Jackson County signed an agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement that authorized his officers to interrogate suspected undocumented immigrants, serve federal warrants for immigration violations and detain and transport undocumented immigrants.
“You’re an agent of ICE, you’re wearing two hats. You have an ICE booking station where suspected foreign-born would be fingerprinted,” says Jackson County Sheriff A.J. “Andy” Louderback, who wears a white cowboy hat and carries a Colt .45 pistol. “Listen, if you run a correctional facility here in Texas then you should have 287(g).”
Trump called out the 287(g) program during an August speech at the Phoenix Convention Center that slammed then-President Obama, who scrapped agreements that deputized local law enforcement to do street-level immigration enforcement. Trump told the cheering crowd, “We will expand and revitalize the popular 287(g) partnerships, which will help to identify hundreds of thousands of deportable aliens in local jails that we don't even know about.”
Louderback sides with Trump, at least when it comes to immigration enforcement in jails. (It’s unclear whether Trump will bring back street enforcement of federal immigration laws by local law enforcement or if the partnerships will continue to be approved only for use in jails.) “I do not want to release criminal aliens into the community,” Louderback tells Newsweek. “I don’t think the prior administration believed that.”
Another 13 counties near Jackson County, which lies 100 miles from Houston and 260 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, have applied to follow it into a 287(g) partnership, says Louderback. He thinks having more counties onboard will help keep the entire region safe. “Each of us having a direct terminal to ICE ensures that any criminal aliens in adjoining counties wouldn’t get out and move to Jackson County or vice versa.”
287(g) Jurisdictions Expanding
Thirty-eight jurisdictions have the 287(g) designation, from the Massachusetts Department of Corrections to the Las Vegas Police Department. Experts expect that number to grow. “It’s a certainty. They’re coming back,” says Jessica Vaughan, the director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies.
The jails, prisons, sheriff’s offices and police departments who win 287(g) designation obtain a wide range of authority and abilities, including access to ICE and Department of Homeland Security databases so they can quickly check names, fingerprints and photos in order to enforce immigration laws, an ICE official tells Newsweek. “The speed of information is critical,” Louderback says, explaining that his office regularly released a criminal defendant on bond only to later receive an ICE detainer seeking to hold that person.