Posted on 11/12/2009 1:06:57 PM PST by jazusamo
HOUSTON | While Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Phoenix gets all the media attention for his crackdown on illegal immigrants, eight deputies in an unremarkable office at the Harris County Jail are posting similar numbers for deportation -- and doing so without controversy.
Working two per shift, the deputies refer roughly 1,000 suspected illegal immigrants to federal Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) authorities every month, helping to make the Southern District of Texas by far the busiest in the nation for illegal-immigration prosecutions.
Since joining a federal program in August 2008 that trains local law authorities to enforce immigration law, the sheriff's office has turned up high-level gang members, a suspect wanted for murder in Mexico, and illegal immigrants from countries around the world, Lt. Michael Lindsay said.
Harris County frequently refers more cases in a given month than any other local police agency in the program, he said.
But what makes the Harris County program stand apart is a routine that insulates it from the accusations of profiling that have drawn prominent criticism to programs like that run by Sheriff Arpaio in Maricopa County, Arizona.
Unlike in Maricopa County, Harris County authorities do not run street sweeps in search of illegal immigrants. But they do question everybody booked into the jail about their immigration status.
"We ask everybody, right off the bat, 'Are you legally in the country?' " said Lt. Lindsay, who oversees the team that conducts the questioning. "It doesn't matter what country you're from. It doesn't matter your religion. It doesn't matter the color of your skin. We make everybody go through it."
Fingerprints from all inmates accused of felonies or serious misdemeanors are forwarded automatically to ICE's data center, which can identify matches to prints from immigrants who have had prior dealings with law enforcement.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Offer a bounty on em and they would be gone in about 30 days!
Not a bad idea, it would decrease unemployment too.
1,000 a month...
Is that all ???
If we deport all the illegals, our status will drop to 5th or even 6th-largest city in the U.S.
That is a trade off I can live with.
we really have a problem here. A woman cannot walk down the street without being accosted by drunk mexicans. Girls also.
That’s from a pool of people arrested for felonies and serious misdemeanors.
One could "raid" all the Lowes, Home Depot, 84 lumber, uhaul,et al. parking lots in the Houston area on a Saturday morning, and achieve that head count in 60 minutes.
Thats what I meant...
The amount that got arrested are just a spit in the ocean of illegal aliens in TX and our country ...
I remember when I knew for sure that the illegal situation had changed, it was 1979 in Encinitas, Ca. at an upscale supermarket and the illegals were outside the front door doing their "hey baby" stuff to the upper middle class women coming out.
That was proof that the shy, invisible, peon illegals knew that they were safe and that the Mexican ugliness in them could safely surface.
May want to, also add the part about 'em tasting just like chicken.
You got that right. I drive past hundreds of them at one location, every day!
You got that right. I drive past hundreds of them at one location, every day!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.