by Steve Reinbrecht
The Berks Sheriff Department will
be the first in Pennsylvania to get federal training to help U.S. Immigration
and Custom Enforcement agents detain undocumented immigrants under a program called 287(g).
Berks Sheriff Eric Weaknecht said he knows
Berks needs better enforcement because so many undocumented immigrants are
processed for felonies in the county booking center.
“Nothing’s being done with them” at
the federal level, he said.
The 287(g) program allows a state
or local law enforcement entity to enter into a partnership with ICE to receive
“delegated authority for immigration enforcement within their jurisdictions.”
Of the 3,141 counties in the United
States, 37 have signed up for the 287 (g) program, the latest on Feb.28, and none in
Pennsylvania.
Weaknecht applied to the federal
training program in 2009, but federal officials withdrew the funding.
Under the Trump administration, he
expects funding to become available. Trump signed an executive order on
immigration enforcement in January that encourages more local involvement for 287(g)
training. Once trained, local officers are authorized to interview, arrest, and detain anybody who may be in violation of immigration laws.
Four deputies will get the 4-week training
so that one trained deputy will be available around the clock, Weaknecht said. They
will perform their normal duties until ICE officers request assistance, he said.
According to the ICE website,
counties in these states are in the cooperative 287(g) program.
Alabama Nevada
Arizona New Jersey
Arkansas North
Carolina
California Ohio
Florida Oklahoma
Georgia South
Carolina
Maryland Texas
Massachusetts Virginia
I’m not sure if the list is
up-to-date. A woman who answered the phone at the ICE PR office didn’t know and
told me to send an e-mail to “ICE media.”
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