« TX: Private Prisons: License to Ill | Main | CT: Calif. ‘3-strikes’ law could be state model »
August 21, 2007
MA: Prison Guards to Find Illegal Immigrants
Prison guards to find illegal alien cons
By Casey Ross
Boston Herald Reporter
Tuesday, August 21, 2007 - Updated: 04:08 AM EST
Gov. Deval Patrick is moving to expedite the deportation of hundreds of criminal aliens in state custody under a freshly inked deal that empowers correction officers to enforce federal immigration laws.
The terms of the new deal took effect yesterday as 10 state correction officers began training that will allow them to initiate deportation proceedings against illegal immigrants who currently can only be removed by federal officers.
“This helps the Department of Correction identify criminal aliens so that they won’t slip through the cracks and get back out on the street,” said Mary Beth Heffernan, an undersecretary of public safety in the Patrick administration. “The point is to make the process more streamlined.”
The pact, which was signed with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the federal agency that enforces immigration laws, was conceived by Patrick as a substitute for a more aggressive policy initiated by former Gov. Mitt Romney.
Romney had sought to deputize state troopers who would be empowered to arrest illegal aliens during the course of investigations and begin deportation proceedings. That plan, which was halted by Patrick, was applauded by conservatives but harshly criticized by immigrant advocates, who said it would prevent immigrants from cooperating with police.
Under Patrick’s plan, the state would only be empowered to initiate deportation proceedings against illegal immigrants who are first convicted of other crimes. The deal entails posting five correction officers in the Framingham and Concord prisons to identify illegal immigrants and begin efforts to remove them from the country.
http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=1018205
Posted by lois at August 21, 2007 05:21 PM