wethepeopleofamerica.org

03/20/2007
Herndon approves ICE agreement
By: Gregg MacDonald

On Tuesday, March 13, the Herndon Town Council voted to make Herndon the first incorporated town in America to allow U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to train and empower local officers to enforce federal immigration law.
The vote was passed unanimously (6-0, with Bill Tirrell absent) in favor of a resolution approving a memorandum of agreement that initially allows up to seven Herndon police officers to be trained by ICE.

Some cities and counties across the nation have already partnered with ICE to receive 287(g) federal immigration law training, but Herndon is widely regarded to be the first small town in America to do so.

The agreement authorizes up to seven “nominated, trained and certified” town police officers to undergo the training, which will enable them to interrogate and process “criminal illegal aliens” for immigration violations; to arrest without a warrant anyone unlawfully entering or re-entering the United States after deportation; and charging illegal aliens for detention, transportation and “removal.”

Training for the Herndon officers will include immigration law, civil rights law, “measures to counter possible racial profiling,” and “cross-cultural issues,” according to the agreement.

The training can be utilized for felonies and any misdemeanor listed as a Group A offense. Group A offenses vary widely, from shoplifting to embezzlement to murder, prompting former councilman Richard Downer to exclaim during the public hearing, “This is not what was sold to our citizens in the mayor’s December letter and it is way too broad as a starting point for an agreement which could be started on a limited, worst-of-the-worst basis.”

Herndon Mayor Steve DeBenedittis wrote in his December letter in the “At Home in Herndon” newsletter that the immigration enforcement agreement would target only “the worst of the worst.”

During discussion on the agreement, Councilman Charlie Waddell said, “I’d like to see a broader set of offenses, but this is a good start,” adding that “this 287(g) does not target people who are not lawbreakers.”

According to the agreement, driving under the influence of alcohol or drug offenses can also fall under federal enforcement authority. However, police functions conducted under the agreement must be performed “under the direct supervision of ICE,” the document states.

In all, 11 people spoke at the hearing in favor of the resolution, and nine spoke against it, including those who feared that the empowerment will allow random immigration sweeps.

On Feb. 5, ICE authorities, with the help of the Herndon Police Department, arrested 11 suspected illegal aliens in Herndon. Although those arrested were not the initial targets of the raid, authorities said the individuals were all suspected of being in violation of immigration law and were “collaterally” arrested just the same.

“We certainly won’t be doing random sweeps, but I think that, having a formal relationship with ICE, we will be there to support them when they need us, the way that recent activity took place,” DeBenedittis told The Times after that event.

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