A law was passed by the Arkansas legislature, the new Defense Against Criminal Illegals Act, “which compels the Arkansas Division of Correction and sheriffs’ departments around the state to participate in 287(g) programs that allow ICE to train and authorize state and local officers to identify and serve warrants on illegal immigrants in their respective detention facilities.”
We know that Sheriff Klatt has already signed the Task Force Model Agreement with ICE (part of this Act) back in May, which will add even more ICE officers to a group that nationally (as well as here in AR) acts in illegal, inhumane and cruel ways.
We know ICE routinely and randomly arrests people who look Hispanic, and also arrests U.S citizens without even asking for an ID. They have entered homes and grabbed people without a warrant. Even after seeing evidence of citizenship, people are held in detention for hours or days, with no recourse to a lawyer or family, etc. And now ICE agents evidently have electric shock gloves (costing us taxpayers millions of dollars).
We are not under some kind of criminal attack by immigrants (whether documented and not) here in Arkansas. However, we read stories every day of the abuses ICE is committing. We are also aware of the inhumane and dangerous conditions in ICE detention centers (as well as the number of deaths). And we have seen that they murder Americans. We don’t need this in Arkansas.
The Task Force Model is going way above and beyond the basic ICE agreement that the state legislature mandated last year. It is voluntary, and the sheriff could withdraw from it at any time. We are pleading with him to do so. This agreement is not required by the state or federal government.
So many Arkansas folks (including us, even though we were born in the US) now live in fear every day, for no good reason.
David and Nan Spencer-Johnson