Welcome Manatee Florida to 287(g) program

By MAURA POSSLEY

mpossley@bradenton.com

MANATEE –

Nearly a dozen sheriff’s jailhouse deputies will be trained to spot illegal immigrants being booked at the county jail for possible deportation under federal funding approved for the county Thursday.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement program allows authorities to identify prisoners during the booking process, a system officials say can now take days because of fraudulent documents or aliases.

It sends home illegal immigrants who have been previously deported or served sentences for certain felonies or violent crimes, said Manatee Sheriff’s Maj. Connie Shingledecker, who has worked to obtain the funding since last year.

“If they’re removed from our community and taken back to their country of origin, hopefully not to return, that has taken a criminal out of our community,” Sheriff Brad Steube said.

Five deputies will begin the four-week course July 22. Another five will follow suit in the coming weeks, said ICE spokeswoman Barbara Gonzalez.

“We’re not focusing on folks that just by the mere fact they’re illegal are being targeted for deportation,” Shingledecker said. “The whole idea is to try and keep the community as safe as possible from folks that we wouldn’t want to be here.”

The sheriff’s office is the second agency in Florida to secure the so-called 287(g) program, behind Collier County.

More…