Should There Be Changes to the 287g Program?
Question by kize: Should there be changes to the 287g program?
Under the new guidelines, illegal aliens when released from their jail sentences, they would be put back on the streets and asked to attend a deportation hearing. Why would they allow criminals who are illegal back on the streets for any reason?
Do you honestly believe most will show up for these hearings? Common sense tells us they will just run and relocate, do you agree?
What is to stop them from committing another crime or taking a citizens life while waiting for their hearings?
*************************************************************************
July 24, 2009
Revamped deportation program up for renewal
Metro may opt out if it dislikes changes
By Janell Ross
THE TENNESSEAN
A federal program to identify and deport illegal immigrants is drawing increased criticism ahead of the Metro Council’s decision on whether to renew the city’s participation in it.
Because the Department of Homeland Security is requiring several changes in the program’s execution, Metro and 65 other participating cities nationwide can decide whether they want to comply or get out. The council is likely to vote in the next 90 days.
In the meantime, supporters and detractors of the program, called 287g, are complaining about some of the new rules.
A change that sets most inmates free while they await their deportation hearings has Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall, the program’s chief advocate in Metro, planning a September trip to Washington.
He thinks more of the people that officers catch would show up if hearings were held in Nashville instead of Memphis, home of the closest immigration court, and wants to lobby Tennessee’s federal lawmakers.
And the American Civil Liberties Union weighed in Thursday with concerns that, under the new guidelines, most information and documents related to 287g can’t be released without Department of Homeland Security approval.
Since Metro joined the 287g program two years ago, the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office has identified 5,300 illegal immigrants. About 75 percent were brought to the jail on traffic offenses ranging from driving without a license to DUI.
A March U.S. Government Accountability Office report described the 287g program — which empowers local law enforcement agencies to enforce immigration law — as one that had operated with little oversight or consistency and instead deported mostly illegal immigrants who committed only minor offenses. The report said pursuing minor offenders wastes valuable resources and clogs federal detention centers.
The Department of Homeland Security’s changes are in response to that report, said Matt Chandler, a Washington-based Department of Homeland Security spokesman.
For example, under the new agreement, only those charged with DUIs or major drug offenses and violent crimes such as murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery and kidnapping, will be held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention until their immigration court dates.
Beginning in June, the sheriff began releasing immigrants brought to the Davidson County jail for minor offenses after they served standard one-to-three-day sentences on those charges. They are now issued court dates and asked to appear at an immigration court in Memphis.
“I think it’s important to point out that these people, every foreign-born inmate that comes to the jail, is going to be screened,” Hall said. “Now, the only difference is that everyone isn’t going to be handed over to ICE. I suppose it’s just like we would want our prison system to be used. The more serious offenders are for sure in beds.”
William Gheen, president of Americans for Legal Immigration, a group that advocates for strict immigration law enforcement, sees the Department of Homeland Security’s changes as an Obama administration-orchestrated end run around existing immigration law.
“If you are in the country illegally and detected, you are subject to deportation,” Gheen said.
“What he is ordering the local police to do now is not congruent with current law, which we consider to be an impeachable offense.”
Information restricted
Under the terms of a new proposed agreement, jurisdictions participating in the program also must seek Department of Homeland Security approval to release most information and related documents. This week, Metro’s legal department could not release the proposed new guidelines without federal approval.
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20090724/NEWS0202/907240355/1006/NEWS01/Revamped+deportation+program+up+for+renewal
Best answer:
Answer by CaroloftheJungle
First of all, the only “criminals” that are put back onto the streets, are people who have committed misdemeanors. This means that they have not done anything to make court officials believe they WOULD do any harm to anyone else. No, I doubt that any criminal, who has committed such small offense, such as driving without a license (of course, he most likely never had a chance to take a test in order to receive a license, in order to drive legally) would ever turn around and “take another citizens’ life”, as you put it. Yes, that may be true for repeat felons, gang members, or something of the like, but not a person who has committed a first-time misdemeanor. Even so, citizens are granted bail every single day for worst crimes, then commit another worse crime while on bail..sometimes flee to other countries, and yet you have nothing to say about that? You, again, seem prejudicial with your questions.
Add your own answer in the comments!
Part 3 – Addiction, Genetics and the Brain Workshop at NABT 2008 – Teachers! Tour the New Science of Addiction: Genetics and the Brain curriculum and get an overview of how to use it in your classroom. Part 3 of the presentation on this curriculum at 2008 NABT (National Association of Biology Teachers) Conference in Memphis, TN Try out these activities for yourself at: learn.genetics.utah.edu – and – teach.genetics.utah.edu
Thousands of Elvis fans flock to Graceland vigil
Filed under: Memphis Drug Use
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Elvis Presley fans hoisted colorful umbrellas against a hot sun and massed in folding chairs outside Graceland on Wednesday, awaiting a candlelight vigil marking the 35th anniversary of the death of the rock 'n' roll icon. Elvis …
Read more on The Associated Press
Investor Day Arrives for ZeroTo510
Filed under: Memphis Drug Use
Six medical-focused startups that participated in the first phase of the entrepreneurship boot camp, launched earlier this year by Memphis Bioworks Foundation and Innova, will pitch their concepts to investors Thursday, Aug. 16, in the hope of securing …
Read more on Memphis Daily News
Reward offered for tips about abuse of walking horses
Filed under: Memphis Drug Use
The Knoxville News Sentinel reports that a forensic psychologist testified on Friday that Kennedy's history of sexual abuse, drug use and mental health issues could have affected her mind when she confessed to the murder. She later recanted her …
Read more on Jackson Sun