Immigration Judge Needed in Nashville

Wanted: Immigration Judge in Nashville (WPLN)

Monday, March 24th, 2008

Members of Congress joined Metro law enforcement officials today calling for an immigration judge assigned to Nashville.

Since starting a federal program to enforce immigration law locally, the Davidson County sheriff has detained three-thousand illegal immigrants who committed a crime. The number amounts to a two-thousand percent increase when compared with 2006. That’s more than any other city west of Phoenix using the 287-G program, which allows law enforcement officials to check immigration status of inmates.

The rush of deportation hearings has created a legal log-jam, forcing the city to spend thousands of dollars shuttling inmates to and from the nearest immigration courtrooms in Memphis and beyond. Immigration attorney Elliot Ozment has reservations about 287-G but agrees Nashville needs a judge.

“When a person is detained under this program currently, it’s not unusual for that person to have to wait as long as six weeks before a bond hearing in front of a judge. This is outrageous and it cannot be allowed to continue.”

Members of the Tennessee Congressional delegation plan to meet with Homeland Security officials next week to advocate for a judge.

Since 287-G started up in Nashville, advocates have had concerns about illegal immigrants being deported for petty crimes. Roughly a third of the arrests stem from simple traffic violations because illegal immigrants have no valid driver’s license.

Sheriff Daron Hall defends the program, saying there are often prior charges involved.

“There was a gentleman arrested last night for no driver’s license and he turned out to be illegal this morning. That would be a no driver’s license arrest case, but what may need to be pointed out is that he also was wanted in Chicago, Illinois, for an aggravated felony.”

Hall says crimes committed by illegal immigrants are down 20-percent since April of last year.

By Blake Farmer

Nashville needs an immigration judge, officials say

Deporting those in Nashville illegally is long, costly process

By KATE HOWARD

Although nearly 3,000 people were flagged as illegal immigrants in Nashville jails this past year, there's no judge in Nashville to hear their deportation cases.

Instead, they're sent on a lengthy and costly process to a bond hearing that often means six weeks of jail in three states before a detainee appears before a judge. The immigration enforcement program in Davidson County has grown so much that local officials and politicians are calling for a judge in Nashville to cut through the bureaucratic red tape and save taxpayer money.

According to Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall, about 10 percent of arrestees in Nashville are foreign-born. In Memphis, where Tennessee's only immigration judge is based, that number is about 2 percent, he said.

Davidson County opted into a federal program last April to screen the immigration status of any foreign-born people booked into jail and process them for deportation hearings if they're in the country illegally.

"Even before (this screening program) started in Nashville, one could argue the need for an immigration judge," Hall said. "Today, there's no doubt."

Currently, immigrants labeled illegal and charged with an offense in Davidson County are sent to Memphis or Oakdale, La., for their hearings and are often housed in Perry County, Ala., before those hearings. Read on....