Thursday, September 18, 2003
The county jail's top floor has become a way station for illegal immigrants.
By STEPHEN SIFF
and PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- The fourth floor of the Trumbull County jail is becoming closer to Virginia than anyone thought -- and closer to Mexico than many inmates want.
The county jail's top floor has become a way station for illegal immigrants -- primarily from Mexico -- on their way to deportation.
Most were picked up elsewhere in the country for not having valid work papers, said Ernie Cook, Trumbull County chief deputy. In the past, they would have been released with a citation and an order to appear in court, which was often ignored.
But since Sept. 11, rules have been changed, he said. Illegal immigrants are now more likely to cool their heels in jail until their deportation hearing, and the federal government needed a place to put them.
Enter Trumbull County, with its budget deficit and dozens of laid-off deputies, and you have a romance made in Cellblock A.
"We would have had to close our minimum security jail if it weren't for the federal inmates," Cook said.
For $65 per federal inmate per day, the sheriff decided he could make more room at the inn. Going into the weekend, the county jail held 58 inmates from the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (formerly the Immigration and Naturalization Service) and nine from the U.S Marshals Service -- generally, accused awaiting trial or convicts awaiting sentencing in federal court.
Together, the two categories of federal inmates net the county about $100,000 a month, Cook said.
Court hearings
The BCIS detainees don't have the rights of U.S. citizens, but they still get a day in court. For the most part, that means an appearance in front of an administrative law judge in Virginia.
"What was happening is that INS officials would have to come here, get the inmates and bring them to Cleveland for a court hearing," Sheriff Thomas Altiere said.
"A judge from Virginia would have to fly from there to Cleveland for these hearings. It was time consuming, so they wanted to find an easier way."
Next week, jail officials expect to install video equipment that will allow detainees to make their court appearance over a high-speed phone line, from the comfort of the county jail.
If the inmates have a lawyer, the attorney would be in the courtroom in Virginia, Cook said. There is no cost to the county for the equipment or three high-speed lines, he said.
"This will make it easier for everyone involved," Altiere said.
Since most of the BCIS detainees are from non-English-speaking countries, the sheriff was concerned about the language barrier -- but soon found that two jailers are bilingual.
"Most of the detainees speak Spanish, and we have two jailers that also speak Spanish very well, so it worked out pretty good," the sheriff said.
Depending on the outcome of hearings, most detainees will be repatriated to their country of origin, officials say.
siff@vindy.comsinkovich@vindy.com