The Charlotte Observer
Mecklenburg County, North Carolina -- The inmate is hardly standing, hardly conscious. He barely fills a T-shirt designed to hug him. Overdose, the sheriff's deputies say.
He was brought into Mecklenburg County jail this weekday morning on a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia. Like all suspects, he was asked two questions. Were you born in the U.S.? Are you a U.S. citizen?
The answer to each was no.
James Pendergraph had found another one.
More than 960 deportable immigrants have been rooted out from the Mecklenburg jail population since April, when the sheriff became an official partner with the U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "That's just me, by myself," he says.
He is the man who sends the illegal immigrants home.
He is the first sheriff east of California to sign up for ICE program 287(g), which trained 12 of his staffers to work full-time identifying and processing deportable immigrants.
Posted by tyne at December 12, 2006