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north west arkansas has emerged as a hot spot in trump The administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration is the result of a county partnership Immigration and Customs Enforcement And aggressive traffic is stopped by the police.
This area provides a window into what the future may hold in places where law enforcement agencies cooperate extensively with ICE Department of Homeland Security Offers financial incentives in exchange for assistance in arrest.
The Associated Press reviewed ICE arrest data, law enforcement records and interviewed local residents. Here are some findings from that reporting.
Benton County has helped ICE arrest hundreds of people
More than 450 people were arrested by ICE at the Benton County Jail from Jan. 1 to Oct. 15, according to ICE arrest data from the University of California Berkeley Deportation Data Project analyzed by the AP. That’s more than 1.5 arrests per day in a county of about 300,000 people.
Most of the arrests were made through the county’s so-called 287(g) agreement, named for a section of immigration law that allows deputies to question jailed people about their immigration status. In fact, according to the data, the county’s program was responsible for more than 4% of the nearly 7,000 arrests nationwide attributed to similar programs during the first 9 1/2 months of this year.
Under the program, deputies alert ICE to prisoners suspected of being in the country illegally. They are typically held without bond and eventually transferred to ICE custody. They are typically transported to the neighboring Washington County Detention Center in Fayetteville and then to a detention center in Louisiana for possible deportation.
People handed over to ICE accused of a variety of crimes
According to the data, about half of those arrested by ICE through the program in Benton County were convicted of crimes, while the other half had charges pending. But the seriousness of the allegations varied widely.
Jail records show people recently held by ICE include those arrested on charges of counterfeiting, sexual assault, drug trafficking, theft and public intoxication.
The most common offenses were those related to domestic violence and unsafe driving.
Local observers say they’ve seen an increase in the number of people facing ICE detention after traffic stops for violations like driving without a license.
The program creates unequal criminal accountability. Charges are often dropped before defendants are convicted or sentenced so they can face deportation proceedings.
Similar partnerships are expanding rapidly across the country
ICE now has more than 1,180 cooperative agreements with state and local law enforcement agencies, up from 135 at the beginning of the new administration. It has offered payments to cover the costs of training, equipment and salaries in certain circumstances.
ICE data shows that arrests under the programs have increased in recent months as more agencies became active.
This increase has been particularly seen in Republican-led states. FloridaWhere new laws encourage or require such cooperation.
Earlier this year, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a law requiring county sheriffs to cooperate with ICE through the 287(g) program at the jail or a program in which they serve ICE warrants to expedite detention and removal.
Immigrants say they fear racial profiling
Residents born in other countries said they were afraid to drive in northwest Arkansas, regardless of whether they had legal status or not.
Some people said they only leave home to go to work, get groceries and meals delivered instead of eating out, and avoid leisure activities.
A 73-year-old Venezuelan-born man said his apartment is “a kind of prison” because he fears being arrested and deported when he leaves.
The region includes communities of people born in Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and the Marshall Islands.
Activists say the fear of ICE runs high in places like Springdale, a largely Latino city that extends into Benton and Washington counties. The Springdale Police Department and others in the area say they have no connection to Benton County’s ICE cooperation program and no ability to enforce immigration law. Still, people they arrest may be held in the Benton County Jail and face questions over their status.
A woman was held at ICE after her husband was deported
A Rogers police officer pulled over 35-year-old Christina Osornio in September and cited her for driving without insurance and a suspended license. She was doing some work for her job at that time.
The officer discovered that Osornio had a warrant for failure to appear in court on a misdemeanor case, and took him to the Benton County Jail.
Records show she was jailed for four days on an ICE hold, even though she is a permanent legal resident who has lived in the US since she was 3 months old. Osornio said the detention was “very scary” and he was released without explanation.
Her husband, who entered the country illegally, had a different outcome.
Records show he was arrested last year on a misdemeanor domestic violence charge and was being held at the jail on an ICE hold. He was transferred to ICE custody in January and has since been deported to Mexico.
Osornio said the separation from her husband has been financially and emotionally devastating. The family lost their home, he said, and his two young children miss their father.
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Foley reported from Iowa City, Iowa. Associated Press data journalist Aaron Kessler and AP reporter Andrew DeMillo contributed to this report.