Overview
- ICE data analyzed by the Associated Press show more than 450 arrests at the Benton County Jail from Jan. 1 to Oct. 15, averaging over 1.5 per day.
- The county’s 287(g) screening accounted for over 4% of roughly 7,000 arrests attributed to such programs nationwide as ICE expanded cooperation agreements to more than 1,180.
- Under the program, people flagged in jail are typically held without bond and transferred from Benton County to Washington County and then to detention centers in Louisiana for potential deportation.
- About half of those arrested had prior convictions and half had pending cases spanning offenses from serious felonies to driving violations, and charges are often dropped before sentencing to move cases into immigration proceedings.
- Residents report limiting daily activities over fear of traffic-stop referrals to ICE, and one legal permanent resident, Cristina Osornio, was held four days on an ICE detainer as her husband was deported to Mexico.