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The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has deep concerns about the Knox County Sheriffs Offices application into the controversial 287(g) program. Wochit

Knox County Sheriff's Office patrol car.(Photo: File)

Knox County Sheriff Jimmy J.J. Jones has said for months that the county applied for the controversial U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements 287(g) program to help reduce the countys jail population and to save the county money by holding undocumented immigrant inmates for less time.

While the 287(g) program may accomplish these goals, the county failed to list either as reasons why officials are interested in the program in its needs assessment submitted to ICE in December.

KCSO Capt. Terry Wilshire, who filled out the paperwork, wrote that the program will be used to fight illegal immigration. The application also estimates the 287(g) program will allow the county to process and turn in up to 1,800 aliens to ICE a year.

The application sheds light on the countys plans for the 287(g) program.

Partnership with ICE to combat illegal immigration, especially illegal aliens committing criminal acts with prior criminal records. Assist with identification and removal proceedings of those criminal aliens who have deportation proceedings and are arrested for local crimes, the application states.

Jones, who announced his candidacy for Knox County mayor earlier this month, declined to be interviewed on the phone or in person. He responded Friday to a list of five emailed questions.

"We will talk further about 287(g) when ICE either approves or disapproves the program for Knox County. We have fully vetted the program not only for you, but for all the media outlets. You may recall that I told you that Knox County was approved for the program a few years ago but was told there were no funds available due to sequestration. I talked openly with you about all aspects of the program and will do so again when we have been approved or denied 287(g)," Jones wrote in an email.

Knox County Sheriff Jimmy "J.J." Jones took a step closer to becoming a candidate for Knox County Mayor Monday when he filed paperwork naming a treasurer for a potential run. Wochit

The program deputizes local law enforcement officials to act on behalf of and in place of federal immigration authorities in exchange for training and funding.

Once someone has been arrested, ICE will flag the individualfor removal and decide to request a detainer, or hold, on the person. The 287(g) program allows local law enforcement to decide who goes into deportation proceedings. A federal immigration judge ultimately decides who will be deported.

ICE places detainers on undocumented immigrants who have been arrested on local criminal charges and for whom ICE has probable cause to believe are removable from the United States, according to an ICE spokesperson. The detainers are put in place so ICE can take custody of the individual when he or she is released from local custody.

The Knox County Jail takes in approximately 27,000 inmates a year, 1,600 of whom are foreign-born, according to the application. The application estimates Knox County will identify, process and turn over 150 aliensto ICE per month, or 1,800 aliensa year, if approved for the 287(g) program.

The application language from ICE uses the term alien, defined as "any person not a citizen or national of the United States."

Knox County's application states the county currently holds approximately 20 alienson federal detainers for ICE every month, which is about 240 annually. But anApril 20 email fromWilshire to Jones, provided to the Tennessee chapter of the ACLU following the group's records request, said Knox County detained 81 undocumented immigrants in 2016, releasing 75 to ICE. In 2011, the county detained 309, releasing 243 to ICE: in 2015, the county detained 65 and released 59 to ICE.

Seeing those numbers (in the application) is incredibly chilling and will send a very scary message to immigrant families in Knox County, said Stephanie Teatro, co-director of the Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition, which helped organize a 287(g) protest earlier this month.

Protesters gather for a rally before marching through downtown Knoxville on Monday, May 1, 2017, to protest the Knox County Sheriff's Office application for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements controversial 287(g) program.(Photo: BRIANNA PACIORKA/NEWS SENTINEL)

Teatro said Nashville, which has a much larger immigrant population, had 10,000 people deported in the five years the program was used.

The process of taking in and processing undocumented immigrants can take up to three weeks at $100 a day, Jones has said, and the 287(g) program would allow for faster processing times which will save the county money.

Jones, in a May 2 interview with USA TODAY NETWORK-Tennessee,said people wont be asked their immigration status on simple traffic stops.

The top five arrest charges for foreign-born criminals, according to the application, include offenses like driving under the influence, driving without a valid license and public intoxication.

Im not against people coming here to make a better living or to help their families, he said on May 2. What I want them to do is do the same things you and I have to do. We have to follow the law.

The application also estimates there are 100 foreign-born gang members in Knox County including Sureno-13, Mexican Mafia, MS-13, Nortenos, Kurdish Pride, Brown Pride, Asian Pride, Johnny-Boys, Laos Boys, German Outlaw and Triad. The application estimated the county sees approximately 30 fraudulent documents and 30 counterfeit goods (immigration documents, Social Security cards, visas and passports) every month.

Jones also said on May 2that there would be 10-15 officers trained by ICE.

If residents, illegal or not, dont break the law, he said, then they have nothing to worry about under the 287(g) program. Additionally, he said, there will be no task force rounding up immigrants.

Were not looking to split up any homes, he said. This is merely for the jail process; it is monetarily beneficial to the taxpayers of Knox County.

Immigrant rights groups have fought the 287(g) program tooth and nail and have argued it will harm the relationship between local law enforcement and the immigrant and minority communities in Knox County. Groups have also said the program will increase the chance immigrant and other minorities will be racially profiled.

Teatro said the numbers in the application are incredibly high bars to set, and it places fear in Knoxville families.

But Jones has said the countys application is for the 287(g) detention model, and deputies will not be roaming the streets looking for undocumented immigrants.

He said he knows the stigma surrounding the 287(g) program, but said his deputies will not misuse the program as long as he is sheriff.

I would tell you that community trust with any minority is hard for any law enforcement agency to get, Jones said. We work very hard in those communities to gain that trust and I think they trust us. I think they know me, I think they know (Knoxville Police Chief) David (Rausch) and they trust us to do just what I said: be good stewards and make sure there are no shortcuts taken and make sure there are no prejudices, no biases and no racial profiling.

ICE denied Knox Countys first request in 2013, writing in a letter to Jones that the agency had frozen expansion of the program because of the across-the-board federal budget cuts called for under sequestration.

At the time Jones called the explanation a smokescreen and vowed to enforce federal immigration laws anyway.

If need be, he said in a statement, I will stack these violators like cordwood in the Knox County jail until the appropriate federal agency responds.

Currently, there are 41 287(g) agreements across the country, but none in the state of Tennessee. Metro Nashville was previously part of the 287(g) program, but left it in Oct. 2012. Donald Trump signed an executive order reviving the program.

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Read more from the original source:
Knox County 287(g) application to 'combat illegal immigration,' turn in up to 1800 'aliens' a year - Knoxville News Sentinel

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The Senator is working with the Administration on legislation that addresses border security and interior enforcement only, according to a statement from the Cornyns office. That border focus excludes the basics of immigration law, such as rules for the annual number immigrants and guest-workers, for required skill levels, and rules for integrating into Americans civic society.

Cornyns denial was aimed at a CNN report which declared Cornyn is quietly working on an immigration and border security bill, sources say, in what could be the first credible effort to deliver a legislative win on immigration policy under President Donald Trump.

But Trumps Department of Homeland Security is also downplaying Cornyns own claim that he is working with the agency to draft a new border-security policy.

Were working with many members of Congress to fulfill the Presidents direction in his EO [Executive Order] to plan, design and construct a physical wall along the southern border, using appropriate materials and technology to most effectively achieve operational control of the southern border, said a statement from agency spokesman David Lapan, who added:

The EO mentions technology as well as the physical wall and Secretary [John] Kelly has frequently said the plan also must include people the men and women of CBP and Border Patrol who patrol and protect the border, every day. That is DHSs plan.

The agencys emphasis on a wall is very different from Cornyns record of opposing any wall that might reduce the supply of cheap workers and consumers to Texas businesses.

Cornyns staff declined to offer any details about his secret bill.

During his time in the Senate, Cornyn has downplayed support for a wall and has instead emphasized the use of border patrols and surveillance technology, both of which can be quickly removed by a future president.

I think people would say, if you are talking about a physical wall, it would rate very low in importance, he said in a February radio interview.

Cornyn told Texas reportersin February that I dont think were just going to be able to solve border security with a physical barrier because people can come under, around it and through it. He added:

I believe that successful border security is composed of three components. One is infrastructure, which you could call that a physical barrier, wall, or fencing. Secondly, technology, and third, personnel.

Because if you dont have the people there to detain people trying to illegally enter the country when they come over the wall or around the wall or under the wall or through the wall, it doesnt make much sense. So I really believe that successful border security entails a combination of all three, and each of those will vary a little bit depending on where you are along the border.

Cornyn is working on his secret proposal with Texas Rep. Mike McCaul, who chairs the Houses Committee on Homeland Security Committee.

McCauls office did not respond to emails from Breitbart.

However, McCauls prior legislation on border security has also downplayed the wall. In 2013, for example, he tried to jump-start the Gang of Eight amnesty-and-cheap-labor bill with a bill that reduced border security rules and was embraced by Democratic leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi and other progressives.

In November, McCaul was praised by Jeh Johnson, the former for DHS secretary for former President Barack Obama. I dont know anybody who is stronger on border security in Congress that I have dealt with, Johnson said.

Other Senate legislators are drafting new bills that may be combined later this year into another proposed Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill.

That is a risky strategy for the GOP, if only because Democrats lost nine Senate seats the year after they pushed their Gang of Eight bill in 2013.

One possible element of any new comprehensive bill is GOP Sen. Ron Johnsons unpopular proposal to invite additional500,000 guest workers, plus their families, to take jobs from U.S. workers every year. The federal government already allows companies to import almost 1 million temporary contract workers each year, even though four million Americans turn 18 and beginlooking for jobs each year.

Democratic Senator Dick Durbin is also pushing a BRIDGE Act that would provide amnesty to several hundred thousand illegals who were brought to the United States as children by their parents. Once the beneficiaries receive the amnesty and then citizenship, they can also put their illegal-immigrant parentson track to get residency, citizenship, Medicare and Social Security payments.

Under current policies, federal immigration policy adds roughly 1 millionlegal immigrants per year, who help business groups by serving as lower-wage workers, welfare-aidedconsumers, and as downtown renters.

This legal inflow includes some very skilled workers and some people who become very successful entrepreneurs, but it also dumps a lot of unskilled workers into the country just as a new generation of technology is expected to eliminate many types of jobs. It also lowers salaries so it annuallyshifts $500 billion from employees to their employers and toWall Street, and it forces state and local government to provide $60 billionin taxes to businesses via routine aid for immigrants, it drives up housing costs, and it pushes millions of marginal U.S. workers out of the labor force andinto poverty, crime andopioid addiction.

High immigration also reduces employers need to recruit disengaged Americans, to build new facilities in high-unemployment areas, or tobuy productivity-boosting machineryor to demand that local schools rebuild high school vocational training departments for the millions of youth who dont gain much from four-year colleges.

The resulting poverty and civic conflicts increase ballot-box support for Democrats, ensuring that more states especially high-immigration California are dominated by the Democratic Partys big-government policies.

Follow Neil Munro on Twitter @NeilMunroDC or email the author at NMunro@Breitbart.com

Excerpt from:
Texas Sen. Cornyn Drafts Plan Against Illegal Immigration, but Downplays Border Wall - Breitbart News

Fox News host Tucker Carlson cornered Univision anchor Jorge Ramos during a contentious debate on immigration reform Friday night and tore apart Ramos arguments piece by piece.

Carlson began the segment by noting that Ramos believes the border wall proposed by President Donald Trump is both illegitimate and bigoted.

The wall is useless, Ramos affirmed. That wall is not going to do anything to stop immigration.

Carlson pointed out, citing Ramos statistics, that the majority of immigrants who come to America dont come via visa or airplane, but come across the border. If you can get a handle on that then Carlson suggested that illegal immigration could be quelled with a wall.

Maybe your real fear is that it would be too effective, Carlson said. Walls work in other countries like Israel.

Ramos argued back that what were doing at the border is somehow working, noting that some of the safest U.S. communities are on the southern border and that illegal immigration rates have remained steady over the last half decade.

The last time I check, were not at war with Mexico.

But Carlson had just one question.

Do you adopt this attitude at home? he asked. Do you have locks on your doors at home?

Of course, yeah, Ramos replied.

Are you at war with your neighbors? Carlson followed up.

Im very civil with my neighbors, Ramos said.

Then why do you have locks on your doors? Carlson said.

The Fox host went on to press Ramos over why he locks his doors as night, but Ramos tried to skate around the question. Ramos said that Carlson, through his line of questioning, was implying that all immigrants are criminals, but Carlson clarified that he most definitely was not.

Your attitude [about your house] is the one we should have about our country: if you care something, you want to secure it, Carlson explained. That doesnt mean you prevent anyone from entering, Im sure you have guests in your home, but you decide who they are and you dont want someone coming in your house that you didnt invite.

Why is a country any different than that, Carlson asked.

Ramos disagreed with Carlson and said that America is inviting illegal immigrants to come to the U.S. through the hiring of immigrants in the service and agricultural industries.

Carlson, however, disagreed.

Im just saying as a theoretical matter, and then as a practical one, a country has a right to determine who comes in, Carlson said, explaining that voters should decide and that by electing Trump to be president, the voters chose for a wall to be built.

Watch the interview below:

Continued here:
Watch: Tucker Carlson corners Jorge Ramos with facts during tense debate on illegal immigration - TheBlaze.com

After years of surging immigration from Central America, law enforcement in Texas Rio Grande Valley are finally seeing some relief, thanks in part to President Trumps strong rhetoric.

Words matter, said Christopher Sabatini, an expert in Latin American affairs at Columbia University in New York City.The rhetoric has mattered. There is a sense of fear that immigrant families, without legal status, without papers are going to be sent back down.

That fear prompted a dramatic change in behavior among illegal immigrants that few predicted. For three years, a flood of unaccompanied children, women and families made the hazardous trek north from Hondurans, El Salvador and Guatemala, through Mexico to the U.S. Border. Now they are not coming.

Were at a trickle, said Chris Cabrera, with the National Border Council. It hasnt stopped but its slowed considerably that were at a point where we have empty cells now.

SESSIONS: BORDER CROSSINGS DOWN 60 PERCENT DUE TO 'TRUMP'S STRONG LEADERSHIP'

That added bed space is allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement to hold immigrants longer. Previously, Central American immigrants turned themselves in, claimed asylum and were released.

In most cases, the Obama Administration accommodated the claim by placing the applicant on a court docket with a two- to three-year waiting list. In the meantime, most illegal immigrants were free to work while living with relatives. Some set down roots by getting married or having American-born children.

President Trump promised to end that catch and release policy, saying anyone who illegally crosses the border will be detained until they are removed out of our country.

Apparently that message got through thousands of miles away.

Since January, we have seen a significant decrease in traffic to the point were averaging about 150 alien apprehensions a day, down from as many as 1,000 a day, according to Deputy Chief Raul Ortiz of the Rio Grande Border Patrol Sector. A big part of the decrease, I think, has to do with a lot of the discussion about the buildup of infrastructure on the southwest border,more agents along the border and some of the message making its way down to those host countries.

DHS' KELLY DEFENDS MORE ICE, BORDER HIRES; SAYS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS MUST BE 'DEALT WITH'

And with traffic down,more enforcement means higher smuggling costs, detained immigrants tell the Border Patrol.

If you think that you are not going to be able to stay with relatives, you are not going to spend $8 to $9,000 to cross just to get caught and sent back, said Border Patrol agent Marlene Castro while overlooking the once busy Rio Grande.

Border Patrol numbers tell the story. Since the election, apprehensions have fallen every month, from 15,000 families and unaccompanied minors in November to just over 1,000 today.

Cabrera believes media reports surrounding ICE arrests, the proposed wall and the presidents vows to enforce the law scared many illegal immigrants into staying home.

The media has a big say in what happens, he said. They put that out there and people come or dont come, depending on what they say.

The same holds true, he said, of President Obama. Though his administration also vowed to deport most illegal immigrants and even produced an expensive ad campaign in Central America urging residents to stay home, the headlines told a different story of immigrants getting temporary amnesty and freedom from custody for those claiming asylum. By contrast, President Trump hasnt actually done much.

Without any real concrete changes in policies, without any real tightening of the border wall, without any of the $1.5 billion worth of increased funding yet for Homeland Security and the border guard, we are seeing the numbers that it is having an effect on peoples calculation of the risk of crossing the border illegally, said Sabatini.

The administration has elaborate plans to strengthen both the border and the court system to diminish the pull factors in illegal immigration.

So far, the Department of Justice has reassigned 25 judges from the interior to the border to help streamline the process and keep immigrants in custody until their asylum claims are completed.

Read the original here:
Trump's tough immigration rhetoric slows illegal border crossings: 'We're at a trickle' - Fox News

Lennox Lake was having the time of his life on Saturday. The six-year-old had tagged along with his mom and dad on a road trip to central California.

Lennox had been such a good boy, his parents decided to treat him to a surprise stop at Disneyland the happiest place on Earth.

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On the way drive back home to San Ysidro, the Lakes treated their good little boy with one final treat - a frosty milkshake from In-N-Out. They were just a block from their home. But they never made it.

Police say the Lakes were hit by an alleged drunk driver a man identified as a Mexican national a man living in our country illegally. Immigration and Customs Enforcement tells Fox 5 in San Diego the suspect had been deported 15 times over the past 15 years.

Constantino Banda-Acosta is accused of slamming his pickup truck into the passengers side of the Lake familys Honda Accord. And then, he fled the scene.

Benjamin and Ingrid Lake suffered minor injuries, but Lennox was gravely injured. He was bleeding from his nostrils and his ears.

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The San Diego Tribune reported that the child was unconscious, not breathing.

Benjamin Lake tells me his son has had two surgeries and doctors are cautiously optimistic the child will fully recover.

Hes a fighter, Ben said. Really my strength comes from Lennox and seeing him fight so hard. I want to do everything possible for him.

Ben and Ingrid have been taking turns sleeping on a couch in the hospital room 24 hours a day.

We dont want to leave his side, Ben told me.

In the meantime, family members have launched a GoFundMe page to help cover medical bills and other expenses.

The San Diego Tribune reports the suspect is being held on $100,000 bail. Banda-Acosta faces a number of charges including felony hit and run, drunken driving and driving without a valid license.

Its hard not to be angry the fact that this is like the 15th time hes had a run-in with the police, Ben told me. Its angering. There is something wrong with the system where this guy can keep coming back.

The Lake family has every right to be angry furious.

Hes hurting people and somehow he keeps coming back it doesnt make any sense, he said.

San Diegos mayor says they are not a sanctuary city but the Lake family feels otherwise.

Its hard not to feel that way after this happened, Ben said. Before all of this I was indifferent, but I definitely dont support sanctuary cities.

I hope you will pray for Lennox and his family and I hope you will support their GoFundMe page. They could use a helping hand.

But I also urge you to call your elected leaders and demand they take immediate action to secure the border and rid our nation of the scourge of illegals.

How many more six-year-old children must be injured by illegal aliens before Washington, D.C. takes action? How many more families must be terrorized by the invaders?

California lawmakers are considering legislation to become a sanctuary state. The legislation would, in effect, provide refuge for illegals like the one who nearly killed Lennox Lake.

Let me be clear: sanctuary cities may provide a safe haven for illegals, but they create a living hell for the rest of us.

Todd Starnes is host of Fox News & Commentary. His latest book is The Deplorables Guide to Making America Great Again. Follow him on Twitter @ToddStarnes and find him on Facebook.

Read more here:
Dad on deported illegal immigrant who injured son: 'He keeps coming back' - Fox News