ICE launches program to deal with criminals as illegals flood into country

Unparalleled numbers of illegal people are continuing to enter at the Texas Rio Grande Valley (RGV) Sector. According the US Border Patrol agents Saturday brought over 2,400 illegal families and unaccompanied children crossing into the US from the Brownsville to Roma areas. The past week scored the highest weekly totals of over 10,000 apprehensions. It has been estimated that if illegals continue entering at this rate, the RGV sector will surpass the influx of illegal enters of 2014. Border Patrol Chief Rodolfo Karisch stated that Border Patrol facilities throughout the sector have exceeded their capacity and as the detention centers are only temporary facilities, resources are limited.

Flood of illegals in Texas/Courtesy of Border Patrol

Yesterday, Big Bend Sector Chief Patrol Agent Matthew J. Hudak reminded border communities the consequences of illegal entry and Border Patrol agents are attentive and authorized to enforce the laws on the books. Today, nearly 80 percent of apprehensions are of people from countries other than Mexico, more than 60 percent are unaccompanied children or members of family units from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador, Haitian, Brazil, and Cuban, Congo, Cameroon, Guinea, Pakistan, Syria, Nepal and Pakistan. Detention centers that were built years ago are not grand places, plus they were never intended to handle families and children, many of whom require medical attention, shifting agents’ time to hospitals.

On Tuesday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) launched a new Warrant Service Officer (WSO) program in Florida, that would allow local law enforcement to honor issued 48 hour immigration detainers. The program was triggered by the National Sheriffs’ Association and the Major County Sheriffs of America. They requested a program that would allow local law enforcement to do their job and cooperate with ICE by honoring detainer request even through they lived in a jurisdiction that prohibited this action. The WSO program draws its authority from section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, that's been set aside for many years, but is regaining interest by several local law enforcement agencies because it helped in recuperating expenses.

Although WSO and the 287(g) programs are similar in nature, limitations have been set, namely WSO officers will not question citizenship, alienism or removability, nor will they process aliens who are unlawfully present in the United States. Once a jurisdiction signs a WSO Memorandum of Agreement, officers will be nominated by the local agency that signed and receive one day training from ICE at a local training site. Upon completion the officers will receive federal credentials that reflect their authority. The WSO program will be supervised and directed by ICE, cost of travel and officer pay associated with WSO training will be funded by the participating jurisdiction. The WSO program will help local law enforcement to continue to do their job by not putting known criminal offenders back on the street where they could possible offend again.