Police Chief Kevin Lindsey said Tuesday he will apply this week to participate in a program that would allow local police officers to enforce federal immigration laws.
But it may be two years before Fort Smith’s application goes before U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. An e-mail to Lindsey last week from an immigration official in New Orleans said there is a backlog of other police agencies that also want to participate in the 287 (g) program.
Participation in the program gives specially trained local police officers authority to investigate illegal aliens for federal prosecution and deportation under the supervision of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
City directors meeting for a study session Tuesday asked Lindsey to draw up a report on what the department would need to participate and the costs. Lindsey said he would make the report to the directors in two weeks.
He also said he would contact heads of the Van Buren Police Department and the Sebastian and Crawford county sheriff’s offices to gauge their interest in the program.
“I feel the task force approach, which Northwest Arkansas is using, is the best way to go,” Lindsey said.
Four agencies in Northwest Arkansas — Rogers and Springdale police departments and the Benton and Washington county sheriff’s offices — recently graduated 19 officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s five-week training course in the Boston area. The four agencies have discussed working together in some instances on immigration enforcement efforts.
City directors were receptive to Lindsey’s proposal.
Director Bill Maddox encouraged Lindsey to pursue the program “with much vigor” and to try to recruit the other agencies in the Fort Smith area.
“We need to get started on this thing,” Maddox said. “It’s not going to get any better.”
Mayor Ray Baker, who has been adamant about the need to stem the influx of illegal immigrants, complained about the federal government’s lack of action in protecting the U. S. border.
The unchecked influx of illegal immigrants is putting the United States in danger of social disintegration, he said. He threatened to give directors copies of “The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire” to illustrate his point.
“I intend to do everything I can within my power to make sure this stuff stops,” he said.
Director Ken Pyle said work needed to begin now to identify costs of the program and to line up other agencies to participate.
Lindsey said he would need to hire at least two more officers for Fort Smith to participate in the program. Each officer would cost the city more than $ 60, 000 a year in wages and benefits, he said.
Fort Smith also would have other “substantial costs” associated with the program. Those costs would include installation and continuing operation of a communications line to support computer and database equipment, the immigration agency’s Assistant Special Agent in Charge Katrina Berger said in her Sept. 18 e-mail to Lindsey. Berger is in the New Orleans district office.
The number of officers arresting illegal aliens as part of the program also would put pressure on the county jail. Lindsey told directors the federal immigration office in western Arkansas picks up and holds an average of 16 illegal aliens a month in the Sebastian County jail.
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**Photo Courtesy, Wikitravel
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