Speech #1090054853

States that enter into MOUs must currently absorb the cost related to pulling their law enforcement officers off duty and sending them to an intensive 5- to 6week training course. They are extensively trained under these agreements. If a State does not have the money to pay for these extended leaves of absence or to hire replacements for the law enforcement officers wanting to receive immigration enforcement training. then costs related to the training under the MOU can prohibit States from being able to participate. If costs are prohibitive. many States will simply choose to go forward in the realm of immigration law enforcement either without training. or generally not participate in any meaningful way. Immigration training for State and local officers is important to many of my colleagues. I hope they will recognize that this amendment is the way to show their support for such training. In the realm of immigration law enforcement. the State of Alabama struggled for years to achieve effective cooperation between Federal enforcement entities and our State and local law enforcement officers. All too often I heard the same story from our Alabama sheriffs and police chiefs: We call Immigration and Naturalization Service when we arrest an illegal alien. and they say they do not have the time to pick them up. They tell us to let them go. They have told me. on occasion. that INS told local officers unless they had 15 or 18 individuals at one time. dont bother to call them. As a result. Alabama requested that additional Federal immigration agents be assigned to the State. Alabama advocated that extra immigration detention bedspace be established in the state. and Alabama requested the Immigration and Naturalization Service be responsive to requests that illegal aliens be taken into Federal custody. Though some progress was made. most of the requests were only partially met. at best. To address the problems. I arranged for an Immigration and Customs enforcement officer to travel to the State of Alabama for 2 weeks to train all of our State troopers on cooperation with the Federal Government in the enforcement of Federal immigration laws. State troopers reviewed fake documents. were taught about different categories of aliens. legal and illegal. and were shown how to use a computer database at the Law Enforcement Support Center (LESC). a database that had been used only three times in the State of Alabama the year before the training because the officers simply did not know how to use it. In September of 2003.