FRANKLIN COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) — Franklin and Lawrence County Sheriff’s Offices have officially joined 287 G.
The focus of 287 G, a program that has been around since 1996, is for state and local enforcement agencies to work closely with ICE to enforce federal immigration laws.
Now, the Franklin and Lawrence County Sheriff’s Offices have officially been approved.
“It’s not gonna be used as a tool to just go out and go to the door. That’s not what we’re doing. It’s mainly until used for Violet offenders in jail are placed in jail on a violent charge,” Franklin County Sheriff Shannon Oliver said.
There are three modules in the program: jail enforcement, task force and warrants.
Franklin County has been approved for all three, and Lawrence County only signed up for jail enforcement and warrants.
Lawrence County Sheriff Max Sanders told News 19 how it will work and what their role will look like when needed.
“When they get arrested, they’ll be placed in the Lawrence County Jail. If we think they may have a warrant against them, then we notify immigration, and we will hold them until they come to pick them up,” Sheriff Sanders said.
“There, I’ll be someone serving warrants, if they have a warrant that is active for someone, they can send it to us and serve those warrants, or if someone is in the jail and has a detainer on them, we’d be able to follow that warrant through,” Oliver said.
Both Sheriff Max Sanders and Sheriff Shannon Oliver said they are solely focused on violent criminals.
“They range from murder all the way down to child sex crimes and sex crimes of that nature and drug trafficking, and those are some of the things that we don’t hear because it makes problems for the good people who are here trying to do the right thing,” Oliver said.
The Lawrence and Franklin County Sheriff’s Offices will undergo training as part of the program. Both agencies also said they only have one or two violent persons a year whose immigration status would draw ICE’s attention.
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