The Williamson County Sheriff’s Office has helped U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement find more than 400 illegal criminal aliens since participating in the program last October.
The program, known as “287(G)”, involves 15 county jailers who have been trained by ICE to interview every person who is booked and determine if a detainer should be issued.
WilCo Sheriff’s Commander Chris Watts said that the detainees being issued detainers are already in the jail for another charge before the detainer is issued.
“It’s very important because it’s in the jail, it’s not out on the street but it’s inside the facility.” said Watts.
The Williamson County Jail is the only one in Central Texas that participates in the program.
Watts also told Community Impact that each detainer takes about 1.5 hours to be filed, adding up to a total of 600 hours of work put in by the department.
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