Carrollton Residents, Activists Want City to End Controversial Immigration Agreement

CARROLLTON — Some local residents and activists want the city council to end a controversial program that partners local law enforcement with their federal colleagues to enforce U. S. immigration laws. Several of them gathered at city hall during Tuesday's council meeting to speak out against the city's 287(g) program. The federal initiative allows state or local law enforcement to partner with U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, or ICE, to detain people they believe may be in the country illegally. In Carrollton, the program calls for a trained official at the jail to alert federal authorities when they have booked an unauthorized immigrant with a criminal record. Carrollton entered the 287(g) program in 2009 and is the only Texas city to participate in it. Tarrant, Jackson, Lubbock, Smith and Waller counties also take part in 287(g). During the three-hour council meeting — which focused solely on the 287(g) discussion — more than three dozen opponents of the program said it enhances fear of police among the Hispanic community. Others shared emotional stories about being afraid to leave their homes. Oscar Cardona, an unauthorized immigrant who has lived in Carrollton for the past three years said he spoke against the program because he believes it could lead to lower instances of crime reporting by Hispanic community.   Continue reading...