A few years back Mecklenburg County Sheriff Jim Pendergraph saw that illegal immigrants made up 15 percent of his jail’s population, but he could do nothing upon their release but put them back on the streets. Eventually he found a better alternative: Deport them.

Using the federal ICE program 287(g), he worked with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities to train his staffers to identify illegal immigrants who have been arrested and process them for deportation. So far more than 2,400 have been targeted for deportation. (more…)