After consideration and careful deliberation, Henderson County Sheriff Lowell Griffin will be renewing the Memorandum of Agreement (M.O.A) with the Department of Homeland Security to continue the 287(g) program. Sheriff Griffin has determined the M.O.A. provides law enforcement necessary tools to identify and remove a criminal element that is present within our communities.
The 287(g) program allows for a law enforcement agency to enter into an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Division to quickly identify past encounters or records of an arrested criminal alien. The process of placing an immigration detainer takes place only after a person has been arrested for a crime committed in Henderson County and is incarcerated in the Henderson County Detention Facility. No local law enforcement officer, including Henderson County Sheriff’s Deputies, has any authority to question or take enforcement action concerning any person’s immigration status outside of the walls of the detention facility.
The sheriff’s office is also developing strategies to facilitate communication with our immigrant community, which can often feel as if help from law enforcement is inaccessible due to both fear and language barriers. One of these strategies will be to create a new position within the sheriff’s office for a community liaison. The liaison will serve to facilitate communication between immigrant communities and local law enforcement, and especially to help members of the community access help and resources provided by the sheriff’s office. Victims should always feel safe in their ability to report crimes, regardless of their immigration status. The Henderson County Sheriff’s Office will continue to provide exemplary service to all the people of Henderson County, and the new community liaison position will only broaden these services.
