Starting (today/yesterday) 15 Davidson County Sheriffs have authority to review the immigration status of jail inmates. The group just finished four weeks training from the Homeland Security Department.
The sheriff’s office was recently approved by the department to participate in a relatively new federal program known as 287-G. Davidson County deputies will work in tandem with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in identifying illegal immigrants who’ve committed a crime.
Deputy and new trainee Marty Patterson made a joke at (today’s/yesterday’s) ceremony that as an American Indian, he never thought he’d be enforcing immigration laws.
“Some people would say that our mission and our group is surrounded in controversy, but I would submit to you that it should not be because like any good law enforcement agency, we’re simply here to enforce the law.”
Patterson’s job will involve interviewing inmates about their immigration status, using a specific line of questioning to confirm their story and checking it with a federal database.
Sheriff Daron Hall says this week five inmates who were suspected of immigration violations were interviewed and found to be here illegally. They will be sent to a deportation judge upon release.
Hall applied for the federal immigration program last year after several high profile crimes were committed by illegal immigrants previously booked in Metro’s jail. The Tennessee Highway Patrol is currently in the process of receiving the same immigration enforcement powers.
On Air - 90.3 WPLN-FM