Mobile County Sheriff Paul Burch stated that his office will assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in any way possible as they start focusing more on illegal immigrants during President Donald Trump’s administration.
In a media interview on Monday, Burch mentioned that he talked with ICE agents that morning but couldn’t share details about their chat.
The sheriff said he will help ICE by providing transport vans, space in jails, or staff to support their job in Mobile County.
Burch said there will be teams who will find and pick up known crooks who are in the country illegally.
“We will help them in any way possible.” With staff [and] if need be, I’ll make room in the jail for them until they’re processed and sent back.”
Burch said that ICE was already “picking people up” on Sunday in several counties in south Alabama, including Mobile and Baldwin.
Burch mentioned that even though the focus is on undocumented people with criminal records, he thinks that people without any criminal history could also be arrested by ICE as a side effect.
Burch said, “Often when they search for someone, there are many other people there who are also in the country illegally.” They will probably be held too.
The American Immigration Council says that about 3.6% of people in Alabama were born in other countries. Immigrants account for about 9.1% of business owners in the state and 12.1% of workers in building.
In 2011, Alabama’s illegal immigrants faced increased worries when the state enacted one of the strictest immigration laws in the country.
HB 56 allowed police in Alabama to ask for documents from people and forced schools to identify students who don’t have proper immigration papers. By 2013, most of the law could not be put into effect due to court rulings.
ICE sweeps and large arrests often break up families and can send people back to dangerous places.
In August 2019, during Trump’s first term, 650 ICE officers arrested more than 700 workers, mostly Latino, at seven poultry plants in Mississippi.
The incident happened on the first day of school for many kids, leaving them at schools and daycare centers without anyone to take them home.
Last week, Baldwin County Sheriff Jeff Lowery said he was in talks with federal officials to increase bed space at the county’s jail to hold more ICE detainees.
Burch said he expects ICE to be more active in Mobile County soon.
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