news-press.com
FLORIDA -- About seven years ago, Collier County Sheriff Don Hunter pulled over a car for a traffic violation. The driver was an illegal immigrant.
Hunter phoned the Border Patrol, the agency in charge of immigration enforcement. They told him they couldn’t do anything. He let the woman go with a warning.
Had that happened today, Hunter would have the authority to arrest the woman and prepare her for deportation. He could do it all within the chambers of the Collier County Sheriff’s Office.
“My colleagues and I have become much more aware of not only the federal law but (the consequences of) not enforcing that law,” Hunter said. “What am I missing if I fail to stop an illegal immigrant? Do I miss the next Mohamed Atta?”
COST OF ILLEGAL ALIENS IN COLLIER COUNTY
Number of illegal alien in
Collier jails = 283
Cost of one day = $24,774
30 days = $743,214
60 days = $1,486,429
1 year = $9,042,444