Rockingham\nCounty, North Carolina Sheriff Sam Page has been at the vanguard of local\nofficials striving to enforce our immigration laws since he was first elected\nin 1998. Now he\u2019s highlighting the right\npath for the Tar Heel State and the rest of America by demonstrating how to\neffectively cooperate with federal immigration authorities rather than\ndangerously undermining them. Law\nenforcement across the country should take heed and follow suit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the elections in 2018, six newly elected sheriffs in North Carolina\u2019s largest counties adopted sanctuary policies. Immediately, horrific crimes<\/a> committed by illegal aliens followed. Each of these counties chose to forego public safety, releasing these dangerous criminals back into their communities rather than handing them over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).<\/p>\n\n\n\n By contrast,\non March 11, Sheriff Page announced his office would be the first in the state\nto sign a cooperation agreement with ICE to join their new Warrant Service\nOfficer (WSO) program. WSO is a simpler\nversion of ICE’s preexisting 287(g) cooperation program. WSO was designed to\nrequire less resources and training, but still allow state and local law\nenforcement officers in jails to be deputized as immigration officers. These\ndeputized officers have access to ICE’s databases and are able to serve\nimmigration detainers and administrative warrants on illegal aliens in their\ncustody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n WSO was first rolled out by ICE in Florida last year, where Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri was heavily involved with ICE in developing the program. Since its rollout, it has become an integral part of enforcing SB 168, Florida\u2019s 2019 anti-sanctuary law.\u00a0 According<\/a> to ICE, 42 of Florida\u2019s 67 counties are now in WSO. Outside of Florida, there are now five counties, including Sheriff Page\u2019s, that participate in the WSO program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As past\npresident of the North Carolina Sheriffs Association, Sheriff Page is quite\ninfluential. Rockingham County\u2019s participation in WSO provides an excellent\nexample to other North Carolina sheriffs about how they can further protect\ntheir communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Page says<\/a>, \u201c[t]his is a lawful process. This is a voluntary process. Any county sheriff in North Carolina can do this process.\u201d\u00a0 He also added that<\/a> \u201cserving ICE federal arrest warrants and subsequently transferring criminal illegal aliens directly into their custody will make our communities safer \u2026 The first responsibility of any Sheriff should be public safety and the protections of the citizens we serve.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Rockingham County, North Carolina Sheriff Sam Page has been at the vanguard of local officials striving to enforce our immigration laws since he was first elected in 1998. Now he\u2019s highlighting the right path for the Tar Heel State and the rest of America by demonstrating how to effectively cooperate with federal immigration authorities rather<\/p>\n