Immigration Enforcement Activist Defends Revised 287(g) Program

Thursday, October 8, 2009, 2:18 PM EST - posted on NumbersUSA

DA King, president of the Dustin Inman Society in Georgia, is encouraging local law enforcement to continue partnerships with the Department of Homeland Security despite the department's recent effort to weaken the program. DHS announced a few months ago that they were restructuring all active contracts, which as a result, would take some enforcement powers away from local police.

The most publicized example of the new DHS policy impacted Arizona's Maricopa County Sheriff's Office and the embattled Sheriff Joe Arpaio. The County Sheriff's Office is no longer empowered with making field arrests, but can still check immigration status in county jails. While many pro-287(g) groups slammed DHS for the move, DA King is telling them to calm down.

In a blog posted on the website for the Dustin Inman Society, DA King wrote...

While the outrage and concern over the changes in the 287 (g) agreement between Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio and the DHS is certainly understandable, it seems that reports of 287 g’s demise in Maricopa County - and the nation - are premature.

It is true that many interested parties are trying to kill 287 (g) - you can see a recent letter to the president HERE -, but it is not as bad as it may seem. Pro-enforcement Americans should all calm down a little.

Arpaio has not lost his ability to use the 287(g) section of the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act.

What has happened is that in addition to altering and standardizing all 287 (g) agreements with local law enforcement, DHS has eliminated Arpaio’s authorization to use 287 (g) trained deputies on the street.

The Maricopa sheriff’s office can continue use of the valuable federal 287 g authority and database to screen non-citizens for immigration status who are charged with local crimes and are brought into his jail.

The New York Times article on Maricopa County reported that of the 33,000 immigration referals made by the county in the last two years, only 300 came from field arrests. The rest were made through immigration checks at the jail.

King writes that this is the case with the majority of 287(g) programs.

In most cases, having been incarcerated, the illegal’s fingerprints are now on file with law enforcement. Even if the local charges do not result in deportation, having become known to law enforcement and fingerprinted serves as a very strong deterrent for the illegals to remain in the community using 287 (g).

King further argues that the 287(g) program will remain effective because of the criticism it still receives from 287(g) opponents. The ACLU issued a press release entitled "ICE Should Terminate Maricopa County 287(g) Agreement Scaling Back Sheriff Arpaio's Immigration Enforcement Authority Does Not Go Far Enough, Says ACLU."

Their objections rest mainly on two points. One that 287 (g) somehow results in "racial profiling." They are ever hopeful that the general public will not realize that all non citizens are screened for immigration status after have been charged with local crimes.

The other is that local enforcement of American immigration laws somehow "makes the community less safe."

King shows, however, that the ACLU's claims are wrong. In a 287(g) test conducted in Gwinnett County Georgia who recently signed a 287(g) agreement, DHS screened inmates for 26 days. They found 900 inmates were in the country illegally, and more than half had prior criminal records. They found 13 who had previously been charged with murder, 11 charged with kidnapping, 15 charged with rape and 23 charged with child molestation. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution provided a more detailed report.

While 287 (g) is saving American lives and jobs, what we are proving nationwide is quite simple: Enforcement works.

-- DA King