Dan Neligh
ABC15.com
PRESCOTT, AZ -- The Yavapai County Sheriff's Office extended their agreement with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) under the 287(g) program earlier this month.
The 287(g) contract, which was extended for another three years, allows local law enforcement members to implement immigration law after special training, according to a Yavapai County Sheriff's Office news release.
Currently, the Sheriff's Office 287(g) program has eight detention classification officers who are able to access the ICE database to determine the immigration status of arrestees.
According to the Sheriff's Office, law enforcement officers would be unable to identify previously-deported criminal aliens without access to the ICE database.
The Sheriff's Office has also trained three patrol officers under the 287(g) program, who are employed to determine the immigration status of previously-detained persons while in the field.
According to the news release, the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office has transferred over 1,500 illegal aliens to ICE so far.
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio continues to hold immigration sweeps, despite the federal government stripping his department of some of its special powers to enforce federal immigration law.
Read more: Feds limit Arpaio’s power to enforce federal immigration law
