Immigration News

City Looks To Deport Criminal Illegal Immigrants Via Program

After a recent spate of violent crimes allegedly committed by illegal or suspected illegal immigrants, Nashville has asked to become one of five American cities empowered to deport its own criminal illegal immigrants.

On Aug. 15, Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall—with the full support of Metro Chief of Police Ronal Serpas and District Attorney Torry Johnson—filed paperwork to take part in a little-known federal government initiative called the Delegation of Authority Program or section 287 (g) of the Immigration and Naturalization Act.

The 287 (g) program gives local law enforcement agencies the “training and subsequent authorization to identify, process and, when appropriate, detain immigration offenders they encounter during their regular, daily law-enforcement activity,” according to a U.S. Department of Homeland Security fact sheet.

Local implementation of 287 (g) would not authorize the police or sheriff’s deputies to conduct active sweeps of suspected immigrants, nor would it allow any Metro agency to deport aliens who happen to be identified as illegal.

What it would do, according to Hall and others familiar with the program, is allow Sheriff’s Office personnel to screen anyone who is arrested and placed in jail, and who is suspected of being an illegal immigrant, to determine if those persons previously have been deported or are otherwise subject to any federal immigration enforcement action.

Presently, sheriff’s deputies must feed information on arrested suspected illegal immigrants to a federal database in Vermont and wait for an answer that may or may not come.

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	Did You Know?
	Grants of TPS are initially made for periods of 6 to 18 months Temporary Protected Status (TPS) - Establishes a legislative basis for allowing a group of persons temporary refuge in the United States. Under a provision of the Immigration Act of 1990, the Attorney General may designate nationals of a foreign state to be eligible for TPS with a finding that conditions in that country pose a danger to personal safety due to ongoing armed conflict or an environmental disaster. Grants of TPS are initially made for periods of 6 to 18 months and may be extended depending on the situation. Removal proceedings are suspended against aliens while they are in Temporary Protected Status.