Saturday, September 10, 2011

Cook County Says NO to ICE Detainers


Last Wednesday, September 7, 2011, the Cook County Board of Commissioners passed an ordinance stating that the “Sheriff of Cook County shall decline ICE detainer requests unless there is a written agreement with the federal government by which all costs incurred by Cook County in complying with the ICE detainer shall be reimbursed.”  The ICE detainers are simply requests asking local law enforcement officials to hold the individuals scheduled to be released for additional 48 hours in order for ICE to arrange custody transfer.  The document indicates that it costs Cook County approximately $43,000 per day to hold individuals “believed to be undocumented.”  ICE can issue detainers before a finding of probable cause and many times individuals subject to detainers do not have any criminal history.  Sometimes even citizens of United States are held up in custody without probable cause.  Furthermore, individuals in custody are not provided any type of advance notice that there is an ICE detainer lodged against them.  

The ordinance will apply to anyone charged with a misdemeanor or a felony who either posts their bond or has their case adjudicated.

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