Posted on 07/21/2007 12:11:16 AM PDT by Tennessee Nana
FRANKLIN — Williamson County Sheriff Ricky Headley announced Thursday several of his jail officers hope to receive special training to be commissioned as federal agents to help combat illegal immigration.
By entering an agreement with the federal government under section 287 (g) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, which grants federal powers to local law enforcement agencies to crack down on illegal immigration in their respective jurisdictions, Headley plans to send five-seven Williamson County Jail officers to undergo federal training within the next six-eight months.
The new initiative will empower the officers to detain suspected illegal immigrants in jail if they have a criminal record or have been deported.
“If someone comes into the jail who’s in the country illegally, our officers will be able to run a background check on them,” Headley said during a press conference Thursday. “If they’ve been deported or have a prior arrest record, our officers will have the authority to place a detainment on them and call the federal immigration agents to transport them to the federal immigrations court in Memphis to begin the deportation process.”
If a suspected illegal immigrant has no prior arrests or deportations on his or her record, Headley said they would be issued a summons to appear in federal immigrations court instead.
“It’s no secret that illegal immigration has become a serious problem,” Headley said. “It adds a tremendous burden on an already worked staff in our jail records and booking divisions. I think the federal agents and sheriffs have come to a better understanding over the last couple of years where we are getting these folks moved through the process fairly quickly and getting them out of the jails.”
Since Jan. 1, 36 percent of all the Williamson County Jail’s inmate population has consisted of illegal immigrants, 50 percent of whom were arrested for driving without a license, Headley said.
“That’s a scary thought to me,” Headley said. “What it tells me is that, regardless of the possibility of overcrowding a jail and stretching our manpower to no end, we have got to do something. We cannot afford to sit back and let some innocent citizen be killed because someone’s in this county illegally and are driving drunk.”
Headley said, although the program’s funding would cost Williamson County “thousands” of dollars per year, it would be an investment in the long run.
“Currently the taxpayers are paying to house these people in the jail and for their medical expenses in the jail,” Headley said. “So you’ve just got to weigh it out. In the long run it’s not going to cost nearly as much as it costs now. At some point we’ve got to spend money to stop (illegal immigration).”
There are currently 350 inmates housed in the Williamson County Jail. Factoring in medical expenses, each inmate costs the county about $55 a day, Headley said.
Several months ago the Williamson County Sheriff’s Department initiated measures to curb illegal immigration, one of which included keeping files on individuals suspected of living in the country illegally, Headley said.
A file is then forwarded to federal immigration agents to undergo a background check to ascertain if the suspected illegal immigrant had any prior deportations or arrests.
“If either of those two things are found to be true, the federal agents would immediately contact us and place a detainment on the person,” the sheriff said. “They would then pick them up and transfer them to Memphis to the federal immigrations court and let the deportation process begin.”
However, there are flaws in the system, Headley pointed out.
“The problem with the way we’ve been doing it is that if we arrest someone in here who’s an illegal alien and send their file off to the federal agents, while we’re waiting on them to do a background check, this person has all the rights in the world to make bond and leave,” he explained. “Then if the federal agents learn that person had been deported before and want a detainment put on them, it’ll be too late because they made bond and are now out of jail.”
By commissioning his officers as federal agents, the Williamson County Sheriff’s Department can speed up the process significantly, Headley said.
“So these folks won’t be able to make bond and leave before we can get the information we need,” Headley said. “Our officers will be able to do the same thing here that we’re having to send paperwork off to have federal agents do.”
The new initiative won’t grant sheriff’s officers the authority to detain individuals who have no prior arrests or deportations on their records.
"Since Jan. 1, 36 percent of all the Williamson County Jail’s inmate population has consisted of illegal immigrants, 50 percent of whom were arrested for driving without a license, Headley said. “That’s a scary thought to me,” Headley said. “What it tells me is that, regardless of the possibility of overcrowding a jail and stretching our manpower to no end, we have got to do something. We cannot afford to sit back and let some innocent citizen be killed because someone’s in this county illegally and are driving drunk."
PING
I hope this works out for Williamson County...
PING
I hope this works out for Williamson County...
I spent all of my life growing up in West Tennessee.
To see a Mexican was about as rare as seeing someone from Tibet. In Middle and east Tennessee it would be even more unusual.
It is unbelievable what is happening, and as my tag line says, I am happy not to be there now. When Hitlery becomes president, I will never return.
Demand a border fence! Build it NOW!! Beef up the border patrol and close our borders!
U.S. Senate switchboard: (202) 224-3121
U.S. House switchboard: (202) 225-3121
White House comments: (202) 456-1111
Find your House Rep.: http://www.house.gov/writerep
Find your US Senators: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Republican National Committee
310 First Street, SE Washington, D.C. 20003
phone: 202.863.8500 | fax: 202.863.8820 | e-mail: info@gop.com
Take a look at their hidden agenda: http://www.mexica-movement.org
Thanks for your diligence in posting the phone numbers...
Thanks to you and others...the word got out to call repeatedly during the AMNESTY Bill National Emergency...
:)
Thanks for the ping Nana.
Good for Williamson County.I hope this will catch on Nation wide.
TN - Thanks for the ping on this. I was not aware of this law.
tgsl - Ol Ike Legget occasionaly has town hall meetings with the common folk, it would be fun to brace him on this.
Good news for Williamson County.
Our elite’s failure to protect our border is but a symptom of their complete disdain for their people.
In their minds, we are only good when we place them securely in incompetency. And what a nuisance those elections are!/s
Time to rally our resources and aim high! The War for our independence is not over, it is just beginning! Are we ready?
And the sheriff is right - yes, it will cost money, but it will save money (and our country) in the long run. It's the right thing to do.
Here's one way to assert our rights. Do this ASAP:
RE: Public officials in government offices (welfare offices, DMV offices, law enforcement offices, etc) who are ignoring illegals and illegal activities are aiding and abetting violations of federal and state laws.
Keep in mind that many states mandate bonding public officials (to protect taxpayers against government fraud).
ACTION: Aiding and abetting illegal activity seriously impairs a government official's ability to be bonded; violating the terms of getting bonded would necessitate expulsion from a government job.
The following offices should be contacted at once.
(A) Every state has a Dept of Insurance and an insurance fraud unit that polices the insurance business.
(B) Every state's Atty General office should have an Insurance Fraud Prosecutor who should be contacted.
Good Idea!
I like it!
Now, here's another way to go:
Misusing tax funded government offices AND the proceeds from tax-exempt bonds to aid and abet illegal activities could be prosecuted under criminal laws.
The SEC and IRS do NOT like to hear that tax-exempt funds were misued. Or that tax-exempt investors and bondholders were misled about the proceeds of state/municipal tax-exempt bond rederenda.
The DOJ might also be alarmed.
Now if it were to be found that illegal aliens using fraudulent documents voted on tax-exempt bond referenda (and made taxing decision for US citizens) that is A SERIOUS CRIME.
You should express your concerns (A) about the validity of state and municipal bond referenda, and, (B) whether government offices using tax-exempt monies inappropriately should be prosecuted for criminality.
CONTACT THE DOJ EMAIL AskDOJ@USdoj.gov
CONTACT THE SEC EMAIL enforcement@SEC.gov
PHONE THE IRS TOLL FREE 1-800-829-0433 You may remain anonymous if you wish.
Thanks-—also read post #15 above——suggests other ways to pursue curtailing illegal atrocities against US citizens.
Every city in America should get this training.
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