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TN Department of Education Announces School Counselor InstituteEducating the Whole ChildNASHVILLE – The Tennessee Department of Education is proud to announce the fifth annual Tennessee School Counselor and Administrator Leadership Institute beginning next week in Murfreesboro. This year’s theme, “The 360 Approach: Educating the Whole Child,” addresses the critical need of ensuring that our students are both college- and career-ready. read more [Link]
Governor Bredesen, Commissioner Kisber Announce Expansion of VW Supplier in TennesseeSL Tennessee, LLC to Invest $35 Million and Create 300 New Jobs in Clinton NASHVILLE – Governor Phil Bredesen and Economic and Community Development Commissioner Matt Kisber today joined with executives of SL America to announce a $35 million expansion of SL Tennessee, LLC, a company subsidiary operating in Clinton, Tenn.. The expansion will create 300 new jobs and add ... [Link]
Devaney Statement on Tennessee Democrat Reps Voting to Raise U.S. Debt Limit Another $1.9 TrillionNASHVILLE, TN – Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Chris Devaney issued the following statement after Tennessee Democrats voted to raise America’s debt limit by $1.9 trillion which follows a vote in December to raise the debt limit by $290 billion: “Tennessee Democrats just don’t get it,” said Devaney. “Once again, President Obama and Speaker Pelosi have won out over hard-working families ... [Link]
Recreation Initiative Program Grant Cycle Announced; Workshop Slated for March 3NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation is soliciting Tennessee Recreation Initiative Program grant applications from local governments that do not currently have parks or recreation departments. TRIP grants help communities create recreation opportunities for citizens by assisting with the establishment of a parks department. Applications are due April 15, 2010, and award recipients will be announced in ... [Link]
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Jul
1
Immigration vote hits even closer to home than you might think
By Jared Allen | Filed Under City News
At first glance, it would seem as though the two stories I wrote for Friday’s edition of The City Paper – “Federal immigration reform dead for now” and “Early 287(g) stats get attention of dozens of TN sheriffs” – don’t have a whole lot more than a topic in common.
After all, one story is about the decision of the U.S. Senate not to pass an immigration reform bill while the other is about the work of our local Sheriff to better enforce immigration laws here in Nashville – and nowhere else.
How much could they possibly have in common?
Actually, the answer is, practically everything.
Let’s take a look at 287(g) first.
As anyone who has kept up with The City Paper already knows, 287(g) is a program that allows the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office to take all foreign-born persons who have been arrested here in Nashville and booked into jail and check them for prior federal immigration violations – such as prior deportations, deportation orders or having overextended their visas, just to name a few examples.
In talking Friday about how the program has gotten the attention of dozens of other sheriffs across the state, I first laid out the raw figures that served as the basis for this interest and the subsequent inquiries.
Again, according to Sheriff Daron Hall’s office, between April 16 – when the program began – and June 18, the Sheriff’s Office screened for immigration violations all 802 of the foreign-born persons physically brought into jail. 605 of those persons were “placed in removal proceedings,” which Sheriff’s Officials have said is really just federal agent speak for “something in our background check showed us that this person is an illegal alien, so we’re going to begin the process of making them prove otherwise or we’ll be deporting them.”
(By the way, the fact that 75 percent of those foreign-born arrestees were identified as illegal is pretty much on par with what local and federal authorities had projected. If anything it’s a bit low.)
The raw figures break down even further, though. And, in actuality, a deeper look at the way the numbers break down tells us more about the program than anything else.
Of the 605 persons identified as illegal aliens, one third – 205 – were either released on their own recognizance (181) or released after posting a federal immigration bond (24).
The 400 who were detained the same day they were screened will remain in the Metro jail until federal authorities come to get them.
But what of the 205 who were released? All were issued Notices to Appear (NTAs) in federal immigration court in Memphis – meaning that sometime in the coming months they are required to show up for a court date and prove to an immigration judge that the authorities are wrong and they actually are in the Unites States legally. If they don’t do that successfully, they are turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials and deported.
According to both local and federal authorities, as well immigration attorneys, the vast majority of persons issued these NTAs will skip their court dates.
What happens then? Well, ostensibly, they go back to living off the grid.
Does that mean that 287(g) is just another meaningless immigration program? Not really.
Let’s say all 205 persons who have already been released with NTAs just disappear back underground. The very next time they are physically arrested – whether it be for DUI or driving without a license or – if a Metro police officer deems it necessary to take them to jail for it – loitering – their missed court date will show up to the Sheriff’s Office personnel screening them and they will be automatically detained (and if they had not had their court date yet they will be detained until such time).
Essentially, this all means that for the majority of defendants 287(g) is a “one strike and you’re out” program.
But here’s where it’s important to realize how not reforming immigration on the federal level is tied directly to Nashville’s attempt to better enforce the current federal immigration laws.
Assume for a second that, for some reason, all 205 persons who have been released end up getting deported sometime in the future. That would mean that those 205 would join the 400 current detainees and 287(g) would have worked “perfectly” by deporting all of those persons it positively identified as illegal aliens – after, of course, all have served out whatever jail time the state of Tennessee determines is appropriate for whatever crime it was that got them booked into jail.
What is then to stop any of these persons – or all of them – from re-illegally entering the United States? The answer is, nothing. At least not anything more than that which currently stops them, which – given the estimated 12 – 13 million illegal aliens currently living in the United States – is apparently not a great deal.
This is all to say that even a very successful 287(g) program will only take Nashville so far. Immigration attorneys have told me that many of the 287(g) defendants have families here. Even if the defendants are deported, their families will not be. And family breadwinners will certainly have an incentive – besides the raw economic incentive – to return to Nashville someday and somehow.
As a reporter who covers this issue, as well as police and courts in Nashville, I am only waiting for the story about the first person arrested in Nashville – hopefully not for a serious or heinous crime (I live and drive here, too, remember) – who had been previously been deported through 287(g). Chances are, it will happen eventually.
Not to opine too much here, but it is certainly interesting that many of those individuals and advocacy/interest groups who were the most supportive of 287(g) were those who so vehemently opposed the federal immigration bill – which did contain significant border enhancement provisions – because they believed it to be unfair “amnesty.”
I think that discussion, though, is for the more political of the Political Animals.
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7 Responses to “Immigration vote hits even closer to home than you might think”
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I posted my opinion…basically, tear down ICE and rebuild it, taking the Federal Government out of the loop (since they can’t even protect the borders, and their only offering is a 5-week Political Correctness Course that stymies enforcement, just dismantle ICE and let County and State officers…do their jobs.)
[...] in the city for immigration violations, in both an article in today’s City Paper and a blog posting over the weekend. Allen points to fact that 287(g) does not work how its supporters intend without [...]
Sheriff Daron Hall’s 287(g) program works. I’ll support it from my seat on the Metro Council.
This is an excellent news article which, I hope, encourages the author to provide the public with more insight into the unfolding illegal immigration drama.
It is naive to think that those illegals ordered to appear in Memphis court to prove their immigrant status will appear. It is also naive to think that most illegal aliens will return home if and when their employment dries up. We are stuck with them, thanks to our self-centered, ineffective government.
Lloyd Gracey
[...] last entry looked at some of the programs previously undisclosed [...]
“This is all to say that even a very successful 287(g) program will only take Nashville so far.”
And hardline workplace enforcement will go the rest of the way. No question the open-borders crowd is bitterly aware of that. End of story.
Until the borders are secure, deportation is rather like standing in a stream and bailing water with a bucket. You throw it upstream and 2 seconds later it’s back. As long as the Bush admin continues to fail to uphold Article IV Section 4 of the Constitution, which he SWORE TO DO, nothing will change. Either impeach the useless politicians, or execute the criminals. Or both.