Showing posts with label
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Show all posts
Showing posts with label
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Show all posts
Hat Tip to Hannah @ OU Multimedia Blog
OU Multimedia Blog:
Cleveland County may be on its way to getting a public detoxification center for adults caught intoxicated in public.
The center will be for adults seeking treatment for both drugs and alcohol. It will not be used to house juveniles.
Recently elected Cleveland County Sheriff Joe Lester has had a detoxification center on his mind for several years including the years he served at OU as the director of public safety.
“It’s still in the talking stages, but we are hoping to have a place to take people as an alternative to jail,” Lester said.
It is unknown the cost and location of the public detoxification center as of now, but soon more concrete details will be discussed, Lester said.
Funny, I do NOT remember Sheriff Joe, talking about a 'Drunk Tank' in Norman last year when He ran for Sheriff.
I do remember him on the Door's in North Cleveland County, talking about how Conservative he was. And how He step it up in the 30 day Runoff Election, talking about how He was going to make the Cleveland County Sheriff Dept. 287(g) with ICE. But no talking about a 'Drunk Tank'.
But I still think it odd that all of Sheriff Joe Liberal/ Progressive friends in the People's Republic of Norman could vote for a real Conservative.
In less than four months, the Homeland Security Department will hand off border security programs to a new administration that are over cost, behind schedule and downsized from original plans, according to lawmakers, congressional investigators and industry officials.
Despite three years of work and nearly $1 billion in taxpayer's money, the department's so-called SBInet program has not met goals and expectations, the critics said. The program -- aimed at using technology and traditional fencing to control the nation's borders -- faces even more upheaval and overhaul as a new program manager takes over the reins.
In one of the biggest changes so far, the department had to forgo planned technology investments for the remainder of this year in order to have enough money and time to erect more physical fencing and vehicle barriers by December.
Facing a surge in fencing costs, the department notified Congress that it needs to reprogram nearly $400 million to meet its obligations, of which more than $200 million was originally intended for surveillance systems, cameras and computer software. And, most recently, the department notified its SBInet contractor, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, it does not intend to give Border Patrol agents a mobile common operating picture during the next phase of the program, CongressDaily has learned.
In what sources on and off the Hill described as an abrupt but necessary move, Customs and Border Protection announced Sept. 19 it was replacing its manager for the overall Secure Border Initiative with retired Air Force Col. Mark Borkowski. "There is nothing sacrosanct," Borkowski said, referring to his approach to SBInet. "It's clear to me that it looks like [SBInet] lacks focus," he added. "I'm going to presume that what it looks like is accurate and I'm going to act accordingly."
Borkowski said he needs to determine if the SBInet program has the right management structure, authorities and personnel. He said he will review whether Boeing is the right contractor for the program.
Homeland Security and industry officials admit SBInet has had setbacks, but contend the program is not as troubled as it appears. They say the system is operating around the clock in one spot south of Tucson, Ariz., and recently contributed to the seizure of 4,000 pounds of marijuana. And now that the department has made construction of physical fencing a top priority, they say, the program can focus on systems integration and testing before deploying technology for follow-on phases.
But at this point, CBP has informed Boeing it does not intend to give Border Patrol agents a mobile computer in their vehicles that connects them to a common operating picture -- essentially identical displays of visual information, congressional and industry sources said. A congressional aide said lawmakers will have no patience for more problems in follow-on phases, given that the department and Boeing now have more time to test and integrate technology.
Hat Tip both to zTruth and Borderfi Rereport
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced Friday that its local teams of officers arrested 63 fugitive aliens and other immigration violators here and in surrounding communities as part of a five-day operation that ended Wednesday.
"Fugitive aliens" are illegal aliens who fail to appear for their immigration hearings, or who abscond after having been ordered to leave the country by a federal immigration judge.
Two local fugitive operations teams and other area officers began the Operation Sept. 20, and made the arrests in the following seven Oklahoma communities: Oklahoma City, Norman, Harrah, Mustang, Edmond, Chickasha, Jones and other surrounding areas.
Those arrested are from the following eight countries: El Salvador, Mexico, Peru, Nicaragua, Cambodia, Ghana, Guatemala and Honduras. The fugitive operations teams and other officers that coordinated their efforts in this latest west Oklahoma operation are based in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Okla., and Lubbock, Texas.
"Our Fugitive Operations Teams are specially trained and solely dedicated to target fugitive aliens to help maintain the integrity of the immigration system," said Nuria T. Prendes, field office director of the ICE Office of Detention and Removal Operations in Dallas, Texas. "If you ignore a judge's order of removal, ICE will find you, arrest you, and you will be returned to your home country."
Forty five of those arrested had final orders of deportation; 18 were immigration violators encountered during the course of the targeted operation. Nine of those arrested had criminal convictions, which included: voluntary manslaughter, possessing and distributing controlled substances, grand larceny, extortion, assault, burglary, larceny and drunken driving. Two of those arrested are gang members. Two other gang members had nine outstanding state warrants; they were released to the Oklahoma City Police department to first resolve their pending charges. The Oklahoma City Police Department collaborated with arresting the violent criminal targets.
During the first 11 months of fiscal year 2008, which began Oct. 1, the local ICE Fugitive Operations Teams in the area covered by the Dallas ICE Office of Detention and Removal Operations have made 1,493 arrests. Of this total, 1,203 were fugitive aliens who had failed to comply with their outstanding deportation orders; 290 - including 32 with criminal convictions - were encountered by the ICE Fugitive Operations Teams during their targeted arrests. This office oversees the State of Oklahoma, and 128 counties in north Texas.
ICE established its National Fugitive Operations Program (NFOP) in 2003 to eliminate the nation's backlog of immigration fugitives and ensure that deportation orders handed down by immigration judges are enforced. Today, ICE has 95 Fugitive Operations Teams deployed across the country. Another Oklahoma Fugitive Operations Team is scheduled to open in Tulsa in October.
So far this year, ICE's NFOP has made more than 30,000 arrests nationwide, which included more than 23,000 fugitives. Additionally, in 2007 and for the first time in history, the nation's fugitive alien population declined and continues to do so, in large part because of the work of the NFOP. Estimates now place the number of immigration fugitives in the United States at about 570,000, a decrease of nearly 25,000 since October 2007.
ICE's Fugitive Operations Program is an integral part of the comprehensive multi-year plan launched by the Department of Homeland Security to secure America's borders and reduce illegal migration. That strategy seeks to gain operational control of both the northern and southern borders, while re-engineering the detention and removal system to ensure that illegal aliens are removed from the country quickly and efficiently.
