Image Credit: Knox County Sheriff’s Office & Canva
The Tennessee Conservative [By Adelia Kirchner] –
In a recent interview on WATE 6’s Tennessee This Week show, Knox County Sheriff Tom Spangler defended the department’s decision to partner with federal Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) through the 287(g) program.
According to Knox County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) records, they lost approximately $128,000 between January and May of this year as a result of their partnership with ICE.
“It’s just like our state inmates. We don’t make any money from our state inmates because they pay us $41 or $49 a day. Feds pay us $114 a day,” said Spangler. “Any time that our state inmates are there and they’re there for long periods of time, where our ICE inmates are in there for two to three days. It’s a revolving door. They’re in and out.”
ICE’s 287(g) program allows local law enforcement to identify arrested individuals who do not have U.S. citizenship in an effort to assist ICE.
There are three different 287(g) models that local and state law enforcement agencies can operate under: warrant service officer (WSO), task force (TFM) and jail enforcement (JEM).
• Warrant Service Officer Model (WSO) – local officials are able to serve illegal immigrants already in jail with civil immigration warrants.
• Task Force Model (TFM) – acts as a “force multiplier” by combining state and local law enforcement efforts and allowing officers to enforce limited immigration authority during routine police enforcement duties.
• Jail Enforcement Model (JEM) – jail and prison workers can identify and process individuals with criminal or pending criminal charges who have been arrested by state or local law enforcement agencies and lack U.S. citizenship.
KCSO currently operates under the Jail Enforcement Model, which means their law enforcement is simply detaining illegal immigrants who are already in custody for other crimes.
“They’re in transit. That’s all we’re doing,” Spangler said. “We’re not picking anybody up. That’s not what we’re doing.”
The Tennessee Conservative recently reported that KCSO had detained 46 illegal immigrants within the span of just one week.
24 of the individuals were detained on Monday, July 14th.
Right now, a total of 19 counties across Tennessee are actively participating in ICE’s 287(g) program including:
Bradley County: jail enforcement model
Coffee County: warrant service officer
Cumberland County: warrant service officer
Dyer County: warrant service officer
Giles County: warrant service officer
Grainger County: warrant service officer
Greene County: jail enforcement model
Hamilton County: jail enforcement model
Knox County: jail enforcement model
Macon County: warrant service officer
Morgan County: jail enforcement model
Putnam County: jail enforcement model and task force model
Sullivan County: warrant service officer
Sumner County: warrant service officer
Franklin County is participating in the jail enforcement model as of July 7th.
Grundy and Robertson Counties are participating in the warrant service officer model as of July 7th.
On July 15th, Haywood County finalized their agreement with ICE for the warrant service officer model. McMinn County is also participating in the warrant service officer model as of July 18th.
About the Author: Adelia Kirchner is a Tennessee resident and reporter for the Tennessee Conservative. Currently the host of Subtle Rampage Podcast, she has also worked for the South Dakota State Legislature and interned for Senator Bill Hagerty’s Office in Nashville, Tennessee. You can reach Adelia at adelia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
One Response
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