The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office is moving
ahead with plans to ease jail crowding by delivering
illegal immigrants to the Mexican border,
despite plans to bring a federal immigration office
to Colorado Springs.
“We’re in the planning stages, but we have
our own drivers to run them down there,” said
Undersheriff Teri Goodall. “Sheriff (Terry) Maketa
talked about just taking people down to El
Paso and Juarez and returning them. We’re still
talking about those things.”
Maketa was not available for comment
Wednesday.
Sheriff’s officials have complained to Sen.
Wayne Allard, R-Colo., that much of their jail
overcrowding stems from the U.S. Immigration
and Customs Enforcement’s inability to deport
inmates who are in the country illegally.
Last month, Allard wrote to ICE Special
Agent in Charge Jeffrey Copp, asking that he
help El Paso County officials address the issue
and suggesting a new ICE office in Colorado
Springs as one way to deal with the problem.
Colorado has two such offices, one in Denver
and one in Pueblo.
Immigration officials will request a new office
costing up to $2.2 million, said Carl Rusnok,
an agency spokesman. But a new office would
not hold prisoners, he said.
“It hasn’t been approved. It’s still in the very
early stages, although it’s something that has
been proposed,” Rusnok said.
An estimated $1.2 million was spent to keep illegal
immigrants in the El Paso County Jail in
2004, Goodall said. While she didn’t have a cost
estimate, she said it would be cheaper to pay
for the gas and overtime to have deputies drive
illegal immigrants to the border.
Legal hurdles have kept the plan from moving
forward, said John Newsome, district attorney
for El Paso and Teller counties, adding that
he has not been directly involved in negotiations
the Sheriff’s Office has had with federal
immigration agents and the FBI.
Of the 70 illegal immigrants being held in the
El Paso County Jail, 20 to 25 of them are charged
with misdemeanors such as drunken driving, assault
and theft, Goodall said. Were it not for
their immigration status, they would probably
be released.
“We have an overcrowded jail, and they’re
taking almost 100 beds,” Goodall said. “Maybe
wewon’t have to do that. We’re just looking forward
to another ICE office here.”
Beth Potter can be reached at dbpotter@aol.com.
