The resort city of Branson in southwest Missouri is awaiting final approval of an agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for assistance in combatting crimes committed by illegal immigrants.
Police Chief Eric Schmitt told Missourinet that a group of police officers would be trained to conduct immigration-related activities, including taking undocumented immigrants into custody.
“We have had sporadic issues where we have people that will come in and basically live in a hotel and intimidate others that are around them in the hotel, whether they are documented immigrants or residents of the U.S.,” Schmitt said.
He said these complaints are often not prosecuted.
“(The victims are) not willing to press charges because they’re worried,” Schmitt said. “And so, this would give us the ability when we have probable cause to make the arrest for a criminal violation, but it’s not necessarily a case that our prosecutor would take because we don’t have a victim pressing charges. It does provide us another tool with hopefully removing the problem individual from Branson.”
The officers would also respond to complaints about intoxicated or erratic driving, driving without a license, and other such incidents involving illegal immigrants. Schmitt also told Missourinet what the agreement would not be used for.
“It is not my officers going down the street and stopping anybody that has different skin color, anything along those lines and asking for proof of residency,” he said. “It is not us stopping a mom or dad driving kids to school with no other violations and asking to see papers.”
Training won’t begin until the agreement is finalized and background checks on the officers are conducted. The goal is to have at least two immigration-trained police officers on duty per shift.
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