Jail Working With ICE
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Criminal Alien Program has led to hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants being detained in jails across the country. The program identifies illegal aliens that come through jails and then detains them until their sentences are served, at which time they are deported. Reporters were invited to Lake County IL Jail to see the work. This report from the Waukegan News Sun:
With immigration officials flanking them, two men shuffled toward a waiting vehicle at Lake County Jail. Once inside the low-profile Chevy Trailblazer, the two Mexican nationals were whisked away by immigration officials, possibly never to return to Lake County again. It’s a scene that has been repeated dozens of times a month at the jail …
Since the program began in September 2007, roughly 260 inmates at the jail have had detainers placed on them. And a majority of them were eventually deported, said Gail Montenegro, a public affairs officer with ICE. Lake County was praised Tuesday as one of the jails that works well with ICE officials. James McPeek, a field office director from ICE’s Chicago office, said the dedication shown by Sheriff Mark Curran and his staff is vital to the program’s success.
McPeek said Lake County has among the greatest number of detainees for Chicago’s collar counties. According to Curran, 152 of the jail’s 655 inmates are foreign born. And of those 152, roughly 90 percent are illegal aliens … Though all of the men interviewed Tuesday were of Mexican descent, not everyone detained is Hispanic. While the number is much lower, the jail also has illegal European immigrants, said jail chief Jennifer Witherspoon.