Dear Sir ,
Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to introduce Section 287g.of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1996.
Although you and others on the town council may be aware of this program I would like to present this in some detail.
Congress in their wisdom, in a bill passed in 1996, realized that it would be impossible for the Federal government to provide sufficient law enforcement personnel to deal with the growing problem of crime commited by illegal aliens. This bill authorized local law enforcement agencies to work with ICE to provide the necessarry manpower to provide for public safety.
In a recent Directive issued by the Attorney General local communities were encouraged to utilize this Federal program to deal with illegal alien crime.
For many years local communities have avoided the issue of crime committed by illegal aliens, saying that it is the responsibility of the Federal Government and not our responsibility.
It is my opinion that public safety is the primary reponsiblility of local government and the local law enforcement agencies to provide that security.
Congress in passing the 287G recognized their inherit limitations in enforcing immigration laws at the local level and thus encourages local enforcement agencies to particpate in 287G
As a long standing member of this community I believe the safety and security of all the residents of Butler is of the utmost importance and one of the principal and most important responsibilities of local government to provide for the safety and security of it citizens.
Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) was made law in 1996 as a result of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA). Section 287(g) authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to enter into agreements with state and local law enforcement agencies, permitting designated officers to perform immigration law enforcement functions, pursuant to a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), provided that the local law enforcement officers receive appropriate training and function under the supervision of sworn U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. Under 287(g), ICE provides state and local law enforcement with the training and subsequent authorization to identify, process, and when appropriate, detain immigration offenders they encounter during their regular, daily law-enforcement activity.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement is a division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Its Program 287G was created by an act of Congress in 1996 for the purpose of establishing a partnership between local and federal police in order to better enforce the law. Any local political entity can enroll in the program. Following enrollment, a five-week training program on immigration law, civil rights law and cross-cultural communication is set up. All procedures taught during training conform to strict U.S. Department of Justice guidelines prohibiting racial profiling.
Upon completion, police are certified by ICE, enabling them to interrogate, arrest and even begin deportation procedures against illegal immigrants they encounter in the course of their routine police work.
As part of participating in Program 287G, police are given access to federal databases containing names, photographs and fingerprints of illegal aliens with criminal histories or who have been ordered to be deported. There are more than 600,000 illegal immigrants who have been ordered to be deported, but who have slipped through the cracks and are still at large in the United States.
These are not students or tourists who overstayed their visas. These federal databases contain invaluable information on drug dealers, gang members, human traffickers and other violent felons.
Program 287G is a highly effective tool for law enforcement that enables local and state police to better do their job of protecting our communities. Had Program 287G been in effect prior to the Newark murders, the alleged murderer would have long since been put on a plane back to his home country and the three innocent college students might be alive today.
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Local implementation of 287 (g) would not authorize the police or sheriff’s deputies to conduct active sweeps of suspected immigrants, nor would it allow any Metro agency to deport aliens who happen to be identified as illegal.
What it would do, according to Hall and others familiar with the program, is allow Sheriff’s Office personnel to screen anyone who is arrested and placed in jail, and who is suspected of being an illegal immigrant, to determine if those persons previously have been deported or are otherwise subject to any federal immigration enforcement action.