Prisoners' immigration status issue for sheriff
Monmouth official seeks U.S. approval to conduct checks
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO Staff Writer
Monmouth County Sheriff Kim Guadagno has followed through on a promise she made during the 2007 campaign.

When Guadagno was running for the office of sheriff last fall, one of her stated goals was to implement a federal program known as 287(g) of the Immigration Reform Act of 1996. This week she announced that the sheriff 's office has applied for the federal program and had met with homeland security representatives in Newark in July.

Guadagno said implementing the 287(g) program would ensure safer communities by allowing law enforcement officers to check the immigration status of anyone who is already incarcerated in the Monmouth County jail, Freehold Township, before the inmate is released.

The sheriff 's office oversees the operation of the county jail.

She said the ability to check a person's immigration status would prevent illegal aliens who have outstanding warrants or immigration issues from being released on bail into the community.

The 287(g) federal program allows for the training of state and local law enforcement officials by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in order to enforce immigration laws.

The county's first female sheriff told Greater Media Newspapers that her ultimate goal is to provide protection for the 600,000 residents of Monmouth County.

The sheriff said when the 287(g) program is employed, an "inmate's immigration status is immediately checked and any potential terrorists or criminals will immediately come to the attention of federal authorities."

Guadagno said when she met with homeland security officials she was given a presentation about the program. She had to provide federal officials with a let- ter describing the type of 287(g) officers she wants for Monmouth County.

"There are two types of 287(g) officers," she explained. "The first type authorizes corrections officers to conduct an immigration search upon booking when a person is processed coming into the jail."

Guadagno said rather than waiting for a homeland security officer to come to the jail to check on the status of a person being processed, allowing a corrections officer to conduct that procedure will eliminate the risk of having a prisoner be released on bail and into the community.

The sheriff said she believes her concern is well-founded, considering that a response from homeland security representatives about the status of a prisoner is not immediate. She said it could take a week to get an informal response and longer until a homeland security officer appears in person at the jail to interview the prisoner. By that time, she said, the individual may have already been released on bail.

Guadagno said this is the type of 287(g) officer for which she applied.

"We will not be authorized to, and will not, investigate the status of families coming to visit prisoners or anyone else," she said.

The other type of 287(g) officer — which is not being requested by Monmouth County — is what Guadagno termed a task force, in which municipal officers are authorized to work as ICE officers at a county and local level.

The sheriff said she received a letter on Aug. 3 which has taken the county to the next step in the application process, which is a needs assessment. At some point a homeland security officer will visit the jail to evaluate the site for the space needed and to make certain the jail can handle the federal technology necessary to assess a prisoner's immigration status, she said.

After that, officers will be trained to use the federal computer technology. The federal government will pay for the officers' training. The jail will be paid $105 per day per prisoner to house ICE detainees.

According to Guadagno, the cost to the county comes in to pay for officers covering for the three officers who are being trained. This cost, she said, will be $8,000 per officer and will be recouped by the money being paid to the jail by the U.S. government to house ICE detainees.

Guadagno said she knows some people are saying she is doing too much in regard to the immigration issue and other individuals are saying she is not doing enough about it.

"We are trying to do what we can with the resources we have," she said. "This is a federal problem that we have to deal with on a local level."

Freehold Borough Mayor Michael Wilson said he met with Guadagno to discuss the program, which he said "is the right way to go on a county level."

"We don't have the capacity or the manpower to do this on a local level," Wilson said. "I applaud her for pursing this. It may not be the answer to illegal immigration in this country, but it is a step to making sure that criminals who are in this country illegally will not be let out on bail into the community and possibly commit serious crimes."

The application for the federal 287(g) program does not sit well with Latino advocates, according to Frank-Argote Freyre.

Argote-Freyre, who chairs the Monmouth County chapter of the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey, said the alliance is troubled by certain aspects of the initiative.

"We had been working with Sheriff Guadagno over the last five or six months and had asked her to keep us informed of its progress," he said.

He said he learned about the sheriff 's office application from other sources.

"This leaves us concerned. It is also election time," he said, "and there was no press release issued to us. It seems she should have informed the public rather than go about this quietly. We are concerned about her lack of candor on this issue."

Argote-Freyre said the 287(g) program seems to have little impact other than to create worry among Latino residents. He said the Monmouth County jail already houses immigration prisoners and one would assume that officials would already have data about individuals housed there.

"What exactly is she getting out of this?" he asked. "It's not clear to us. What is she getting that she doesn't already have?"

Argote-Freyre referred to the directive issued by New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram last year which directs all police jurisdictions to question the citizenship and immigration status of people who are arrested for an indictable crime or for driving while intoxicated and to notify ICE of such persons suspected of being in the United States illegally.

Guadagno said the attorney general's directive does not apply to the sheriff 's office, only to municipal law enforcement agencies.

"They are two separate entities," she said.