Dean Learns About 287 (g)

Mayoral candidate Karl Dean toured the 287(g) program today at the Davidson County Sheriff’s Department.

All the mayoral candidates in the recent general election supported the program, which allows the Sheriff’s Department to access federal immigration records and check on the status of people who’ve been arrested and have no documentation.

Immigrant activists have complained that the breadwinner of a family could be deported for a minor misdemeanor, leaving his family here, but Dean says the law takes precedence.

“If the law is that somebody is arrested, Davidson County is going to look to determine what their immigration status is, and that’s just what the law of the country is. I don’t think a sheriff can make decisions and decide who or who they’re not their going to check. You need to check everybody, that’s the only way you can do it fairly.”

287(g) was proposed while Dean was Metro Legal Director, but was put into action after he had left office. Dean said he came to learn about the details of the program.

Dean’s runoff opponent, former congressman Bob Clement, has been hitting the immigration issue hard. Clement has called for the U-S Immigration and Customs Enforcement to set up an office in Nashville. He’s also called for a summit on illegal immigration.

287(g) has been functioning since April. Since that time, over 11-hundred illegal immigrants have been identified to either go before an immigration judge, or be deported from the U-S.