Sheriff tackles illegal immigration
Deputies return from Georgia training, receive ICE certification
Caroline Briggs
Issue date: 2/26/08 Section: Community
Eight officers of the Butler County Sheriff's office returned to Ohio this month after training with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Gainesville, Ga.
The training lasted from Jan. 8 to Feb. 5, according to Butler County Sgt. Monte Mayer. He said the training established Butler County as the first law enforcement agency in Ohio to have the federal jurisdiction of ICE.
"It took practically all of 2007 to get approval for this training by the sheriff," Mayer said, regarding the federal and local grants applied for by Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones.
Mayer said that Butler County Jail experiences a significant number of illegal immigrants who are incarcerated for committing crimes. According to Mayer, Jones has made an initiative to combat Butler County's issue with illegal immigrants within and outside the walls of the jail.
Before the eight officers were trained, Butler County could only hold suspected illegal immigrants for 48 hours while ICE performed a background check. Because the Butler County officers have been trained with ICE, the 48-hour time constraint is no longer an issue.
"The sheriff's office has been working since 2005 to face (illegal immigration in Butler County)," Mayer said. "(Jones) thought it wasn't right that Butler County tax payers are paying for people who shouldn't even be in the country."
Lt. Dennis Adams was one of the eight individuals who traveled to Georgia and said the experience was important, especially concerning the overall direction the United States is headed in regards to immigration.
"Nationally, illegal immigration is a huge problem," Adams said. "The whole focus for the training was not immigrants, but individuals who have entered this country illegally and chosen to commit crimes."
Mayer said that at Butler County Jail at any given time, there can be 150 to 200 prisoners and ICE needs 48 hours to investigate whether or not they are illegal immigrants. He said that 50 or 60 of these individuals are handed over to ICE within a week.
The training lasted from Jan. 8 to Feb. 5, according to Butler County Sgt. Monte Mayer. He said the training established Butler County as the first law enforcement agency in Ohio to have the federal jurisdiction of ICE.
"It took practically all of 2007 to get approval for this training by the sheriff," Mayer said, regarding the federal and local grants applied for by Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones.
Mayer said that Butler County Jail experiences a significant number of illegal immigrants who are incarcerated for committing crimes. According to Mayer, Jones has made an initiative to combat Butler County's issue with illegal immigrants within and outside the walls of the jail.
Before the eight officers were trained, Butler County could only hold suspected illegal immigrants for 48 hours while ICE performed a background check. Because the Butler County officers have been trained with ICE, the 48-hour time constraint is no longer an issue.
"The sheriff's office has been working since 2005 to face (illegal immigration in Butler County)," Mayer said. "(Jones) thought it wasn't right that Butler County tax payers are paying for people who shouldn't even be in the country."
Lt. Dennis Adams was one of the eight individuals who traveled to Georgia and said the experience was important, especially concerning the overall direction the United States is headed in regards to immigration.
"Nationally, illegal immigration is a huge problem," Adams said. "The whole focus for the training was not immigrants, but individuals who have entered this country illegally and chosen to commit crimes."
Mayer said that at Butler County Jail at any given time, there can be 150 to 200 prisoners and ICE needs 48 hours to investigate whether or not they are illegal immigrants. He said that 50 or 60 of these individuals are handed over to ICE within a week.
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