DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Law enforcement officers across Florida may soon receive new training from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The training would equip select officers with the skills to detain individuals who are in the country illegally.
Volusia County is preparing to begin the program, with 10 employees from the county jail undergoing specialized training. They will then be designated as warrant service officers.
“That’ll give the jail folks -- if they find out that somebody is to be detained by ICE or has a deportation order -- they’ll be able to make the service, notify ICE and then ICE has 48 hours to pick up that individual,” Chitwood said.
Chitwood noted that the warrants are part of 1.4 million deportation orders issued nationwide.
“In years past, there was nothing we could do because it was federal law. Now, the jail will be able to hold them. And what’s going to happen here probably on Monday -- I’ll probably learn more -- is a street-level task force,” he said.
The agreement with ICE also includes training for over 500 Florida troopers to arrest undocumented individuals who are wanted.
Chitwood believes that local and county law enforcement will soon receive official training for those responsibilities as well.
“Our focus is on five areas: are you a danger to public safety, are you a danger to national security, have you been deported and re-entered the country illegally again, are you a member of a criminal gang,” he stated.
The fifth area of focus is whether an individual is among the 1.4 million deportation orders.
“For the people who have been here for 20 years and there’s no path to citizenship for them, that’s an issue for the federal government to solve. For us, those five categories is what I’m using my resources on to help ICE out,” Chitwood said.
