Illegals Today

Beginning January 23, 2007, 13 deputies and jailers from Alamance County, NC "started about a month of training in Charlotte to become federal Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. In September, the Department of Homeland Security formally approved an agreement with Alamance County to train and deputize the officers. The agreement came about, in part, with the approval of the Alamance County commissioners, in particular through the efforts of Commissioner Tim Sutton, an outspoken immigration reform advocate.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement is part of the Department of Homeland Security. It was created in March 2003 from two former federal agencies -- the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the U.S. Customs Service. A 1996 federal law, known as the Immigration and Nationality Act, authorizes training and deputizing local officers to be federal agents. According to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Web site, to qualify for the program, local officers must: Be U.S. citizens. Pass a background check. Have two years' experience on their current job. Have no pending disciplinary actions." Source: Times-News (Burlington, NC), 01/23/2007, available through Access My Library.

Here's another story on Sutton's efforts from last fall, which appear to have been successful.