Waitone
Member
How much you wanna bet sooner or later the federales will figure out the way to deal with illegal immigration is to move to "Workplace Enforcement"? We've done it before! Anyhow there is light out there.
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http://www.nbc13.com/news/1993533/detail.html
Alabama, Florida Could Be First States To Work With Feds
POSTED: 11:54 a.m. CST February 20, 2003
UPDATED: 5:46 p.m. CST February 20, 2003
MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- The Alabama state troopers and the federal Immigration and Naturalization Service are about to work together on stemming the flow of illegal aliens into Alabama.
Charles Andrews, the outgoing director of the state Department of Public Safety, and U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., announced Thursday that the state is working on an agreement with the INS and Justice Department for the federal government to provide training to state troopers that will allow them to arrest illegal aliens.
Sessions said federal law has provided for the training for several years, but Alabama and Florida are the first states to be on the verge of signing an agreement with the federal government to get the training, which will allow troopers to arrest illegal aliens on immigration charges.
"I talked to Attorney General Ashcroft and explained my frustration and we learned there is a training program under current law but no states are using it," Sessions said.
In the past, troopers could file traffic charges against an illegal alien and call the INS, but the INS was so short of staff that it wouldn't respond except in the most serious cases.
"The immigration service says they must arrest 15 to 18 before they can respond," Sessions said.
Andrews said he had stopped aliens without proper documentation but had to turn them loose because there was only one full-time INS agent serving Alabama.
"Once I issued a traffic citation to them, I really had no further authority to detain them at that point," he said.
Andrews said he did not know how many cases of illegal aliens have been noted by state troopers, but it is a common occurrence.
Sessions said the federal government will pay for the training. It will be conducted either in person or by teleconference, and the length of the training is still being determined, he said.
Isabel Rubio, who is part of a coalition taking interest in Hispanic issues, says she is leery of the state trooper's added duties.
"It's scary to think about the highway department being in charge of immigration enforcement in our state," Rubio said. "Our state troopers are here for the purpose of public safety not to enforce our federal immigration laws."
However, she says it's important that troopers maintain their responsibility of making sure all drivers have the proper documentation to drive.
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http://www.nbc13.com/news/1993533/detail.html
Alabama, Florida Could Be First States To Work With Feds
POSTED: 11:54 a.m. CST February 20, 2003
UPDATED: 5:46 p.m. CST February 20, 2003
MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- The Alabama state troopers and the federal Immigration and Naturalization Service are about to work together on stemming the flow of illegal aliens into Alabama.
Charles Andrews, the outgoing director of the state Department of Public Safety, and U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., announced Thursday that the state is working on an agreement with the INS and Justice Department for the federal government to provide training to state troopers that will allow them to arrest illegal aliens.
Sessions said federal law has provided for the training for several years, but Alabama and Florida are the first states to be on the verge of signing an agreement with the federal government to get the training, which will allow troopers to arrest illegal aliens on immigration charges.
"I talked to Attorney General Ashcroft and explained my frustration and we learned there is a training program under current law but no states are using it," Sessions said.
In the past, troopers could file traffic charges against an illegal alien and call the INS, but the INS was so short of staff that it wouldn't respond except in the most serious cases.
"The immigration service says they must arrest 15 to 18 before they can respond," Sessions said.
Andrews said he had stopped aliens without proper documentation but had to turn them loose because there was only one full-time INS agent serving Alabama.
"Once I issued a traffic citation to them, I really had no further authority to detain them at that point," he said.
Andrews said he did not know how many cases of illegal aliens have been noted by state troopers, but it is a common occurrence.
Sessions said the federal government will pay for the training. It will be conducted either in person or by teleconference, and the length of the training is still being determined, he said.
Isabel Rubio, who is part of a coalition taking interest in Hispanic issues, says she is leery of the state trooper's added duties.
"It's scary to think about the highway department being in charge of immigration enforcement in our state," Rubio said. "Our state troopers are here for the purpose of public safety not to enforce our federal immigration laws."
However, she says it's important that troopers maintain their responsibility of making sure all drivers have the proper documentation to drive.