Posted on 04/19/2008 8:41:20 AM PDT by Tennessee Nana
One the eve of the first anniversary of Davidson County’s 287(g) immigration enforcement program, state and local officials are making an effort to bring an immigration judge to the county.
The Sheriff’s Office announced at a press conference yesterday it would process 3,000 illegal immigrants by April through the program that allows local law enforcement to check immigration status and begin the process of deportation.
However, the process is lengthy and many immigrants pinpointed for removal have to be processed through a judge in Memphis or Oakdale, La., which could take up to six weeks for a bond hearing, according to one immigration advocate.
“This is outrageous and it cannot be allowed to continue,” said Elliot Ozment, immigration lawyer and chair of the immigration committee for the Nashville Bar Association.
Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall has a solution.
Having an immigration judge in town, Hall says, would expedite the process.
U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander and Representative Jim Cooper have already made a written request to the Department of Homeland Security for the installation of a judge locally. Both were on hand yesterday at the press conference.
In their request, Alexander and Cooper both cite the success of the county’s 287(g) program, writing that as the program matures, “allotting an immigration judge to Nashville would help expedite the process and alleviate the current logjam, thereby saving the federal government money while satisfying our local communities.”
Although local law enforcement officials have lauded the programs progress, 287(g) is not without criticism.
“This program has had a very chilling effect on the immigrant community and immigrant community members are much less willing to interact with the broader community,” said Stephen Fotopulos, policy director for the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition.
The coalition has been monitoring the program since it’s inception last April.
Fotopulos is, however, in agreement that an immigration judge is needed.
“Certainly there is incredible injustice in the immigration system now where as someone is arrested in Nashville that could spend weeks in some jail [out of state],” Fotopulos said. “All the while not being able to talk to their immigration attorney or not being able to talk to their family.”
The judge would be provided through federal funding and Hall said an immediate fix could be a traveling judge that would cover several areas.
The 287(g) program is a portion of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act that was implemented here in March 2007 and is aimed at giving local governments the power to deport illegal immigrants.
Having an immigration judge in town, Hall says, would expedite the process. _____________________________________________
Sheriff Daron is Sheriff Joe's brother
:)
PING
The infrastructure to handle and process increasing number of illegals will gradually evolve into a much more efficient system as time passes.
I have a better solution. Forget the judges, think giant catapult!
Build the fence!
Shucks, and here we thought illegal aliens were all harmless farmers violating our borders for a better life---to take jobs Americans won't do---flipping hamburgers and picking lettuce. (/sarc)
THEY WONT STOP COMING UNLESS WE CUTOFF THE BENEFITS. The payoff in US govt benefits is inmense (they will use any means to get here). Multiple identities and numerous SS nos can get them on several US gravy trains simultaneously.......multiple EITC refunds, welfare checks, food stamps (which they sell), UI and disability checks. Plus invaders get several ADD disability checks for each kid under different names. Course, the big payoff is income from drug-running for Columbian drug lords. Here's how they do it.
Two accused of planning to sell counterfeit IDs
07/21/06, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NORTH BERGEN -- The Pelcastre brothers were a walking threat to national security -- expert document forgers who, for a few thousand dollars, could give anyone a new identity, authorities said Thursday. When police stumbled across the pair, the men had turned a Tonnelle Avenue hotel room into a business office and were readying a massive cache of fake Social Security cards for delivery to a local identity broker, authorities said.
The brothers, Angel, 31, and Jorge, 34, both of Dallas, were a "one-stop shop" for a myriad of government documents, including birth certificates, Social Security cards, driver's licenses for any state in the country, passports and resident alien cards, said state police Capt. Al Della Fave. "Can you imagine if a terrorist were able to get their hands on this stuff?" Della Fave said. "They'd have free passage throughout the country."
A task force including state troopers and officers from both the Bergen and Hudson county prosecutors' offices happened upon two cars bearing Texas plates in the parking lot of the hotel Wednesday morning. Authorities wouldn't identify the hotel by name for fear it could hinder cooperation from other hotels in future investigations or spark retribution.
The Corporate Outreach Task Force, formerly the Hotel Motel Drug Interdiction Task Force, regularly runs checks on motor vehicles in area motels. Members of the task force began watching the cars, a Chevrolet Impala and a Pontiac Firebird, and followed the brothers to an office supply store in a nearby shopping center, where the men purchased computer supplies, said state police Sgt. Stephen Jones.
Officers then followed the brothers to a self-storage facility in Secaucus, where they loaded several boxes from a storage unit into one of the cars, Jones said.
One of the men stood lookout, which heightened police suspicion, he said. Authorities approached the men when they returned to the hotel and questioned them separately, Jones said. The brothers consented to a search of their cars, hotel room and the storage facility, he said. Police recovered laminating sheets with built-in security features, pages of blank documents waiting for fake names and information, finished documents, computers and software to create the fake IDs, Jones said.
All told, the haul was worth about $500,000 on the street, Della Fave said. Police also recovered $6,000 in cash, which was the first payment from a fake document broker for a shipment of 500 Social Security cards, Della Fave said."They were aggressively selling to brokers," he said. "This isn't like selling driver's licenses to individuals. These were multiple layers of high-level documents."
The brothers were being held without bail Thursday at the Hudson County Jail on charges of possessing fraudulent documents and conspiracy to sell fraudulent documents. Federal charges are also pending against them, said state police Detective Sgt. Cesar Huaman, a member of the task force.
Another Ballsy Sheriff Ping!
This time, with the list!
[The Sheriff’s Office announced at a press conference yesterday it would process 3,000 illegal immigrants by April through the program that allows local law enforcement to check immigration status and begin the process of deportation.]
Thank God somebody is doing their job.
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.