By Greg Jordan
Bluefield Daily Telegraph, W.Va.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced Thursday that West Virginia had signed a letter of intent to join the 287(g) program under President Donald Trump which will allow state correctional officers to transport criminal aliens into federal custody without the direct supervision of an ICE agent, speeding up the deportation process.
“West Virginia stands ready to carry out President Trump’s anti-illegal immigration agenda,” Morrisey during a press conference. “Today’s actions will ensure that criminal aliens can be expeditiously deported from our country.”
In the letter of intent addressed to Russell Holt, executive associate director of enforcement and removal operations with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Morrisey said that West Virginia supports President Trump’s drive against illegal immigration.
“West Virginia stands firmly behind President Donald Trump’s historic efforts to combat the extraordinary threat posed by illegal immigration and drug and human trafficking,” the governor said in the letter. “The federal government cannot face this crisis alone. As governor, I am deeply committed to pursuing serious and meaningful cooperative programs between our state and the Immigrations and Enforcement Office.”
Under the 287(g) program, the state’s correctional officers will be able to perform specified immigration duties such as transporting criminal immigrants without the direct supervision of an ICE agent, making more agents available for other duties, Morrisey said. This plan speeds up the deportation process.
Last week, Morrisey signed an executive order directing West Virginia’s law enforcement agencies to fully cooperate with the president’s immigration agenda and perform the duties of immigration officers as necessary and as allowed by law. Morrisey also sent a letter to local law enforcement officials ensuring that all agencies are aware that they must take every effort to support ICE and the president’s directives on illegal immigration.
Speaking at a lectern displaying the sign “Stop Illegal Immigration,” Morrisey said that people who do not believe West Virginia has been impacted by illegal immigration are “dead wrong,” citing the influx of fentanyl in the state’s communities.
“Last year alone, the vast majority of overdose-related deaths in West Virginia were caused by fentanyl which was trafficked across the southern border,” the governor said in his executive order. “The law enforcement agencies of the State of West Virginia can provide valuable support and assistance to President Trump in implementing these federal immigration policies; and it is in the public interest that the state’s law enforcement officers cooperate fully with President Trump’s initiatives to secure the nation’s borders and stop the deadly flow of drugs into the country.”
Morrisey said that about 64 illegal immigrants were in West Virginia’s jail system and that this number represented a combination of people already in jail for various offenses and others apprehended by ICE agents.
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