Horry County Sheriff’s Office, ICE release statistics for the immigration enforcement program

HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WMBF) The Horry County Sheriff’s Office and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), meet every few years to educate the public about the 287-G program.

The program utilizes a fingerprint screening tool, when a person has been arrested for a criminal violation and booked into the detention center, rather than having an ICE officer go to the facility, the program delegates the authority to booking officers at the sheriff’s office to do the screening.

RELATED COVERAGE:

• A new screening policy at Horry County jail is centered around public safety
• Horry County Sheriff’s Office cracking down on immigration enforcement

In Thursday’s meeting, officials met to discuss the numbers for the 2022 fiscal year, which runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30. Over 380 immigrants were booked into J. Rueben Long Detention Center.

Out of those numbers, 128 are convicted criminals, while 220 have pending criminal charges.

The highest number was in the 2019 fiscal year when 442 non-U.S. citizens were taken into custody in Horry County.

The Horry County Sheriff’s Office started implementing the program in 2018.

After the non-U.S citizens are identified, a judge will determine if deportation should be considered.

A spokesperson from ICE said the program is only targeting people who are detained and pose a threat to the community.

Horry County is just one of the three counties in South Carolina that partner with ICE for this program.

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