Immigrant Welcome and Resource Center makes a release on ICE arrests; Stauffer makes a release on HCSO’s role
The Immigrant Welcome and Resource Center made a release on July 27 raising concerns about due process and racial profiling after Immigrations and Customs Enforcement made arrests in Henderson on July 23.
The organization out of Evansville also cited ICE detaining about 35 people in Evansville during the week of July 6.
The Immigrant Welcome and Resource Center said that people taken into custody included both undocumented immigrants and those following required immigration processes, including asylum seekers with pending cases.
According to the Immigrant Welcome and Resource Center, families and witnesses described:
• Detainees signing deportation paperwork before they could consult an attorney. Some families said removal orders were signed within 48 hours of detention.
• One detainee transferred to the Miami Correctional Facility in Bunker Hill, Ind., where two people died in ICE custody this year
• One asylum seeker asked to choose between voluntary departure and a removal order barring reentry for as long as 10 years, before speaking with an attorney or family. Another was scheduled for a hearing before an immigration judge.
• Households losing their primary wage earner, leaving families with immediate financial hardship and legal costs.
Meanwhile, the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday issued a release that clarified information about the HCSO assisting ICE in Henderson County on July 23.
As previously reported on this website, Sheriff Chip Stauffer said the local office is not a part of the federal 287G program, which allows with local law enforcement agencies to enforce certain federal immigration laws.
Stauffer also wrote that ICE had requested the HCSO’s assistance, and he had deputies with these agents as he would any other federal agency, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration or the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive, if requested.
“I feel an obligation to Henderson County to have a presence while a federal agency is in our community conducting an operation,” Stauffer said in the release.
Chamber State of Education Breakfast is Aug. 21
The Henderson Chamber of Commerce will hold its annual State of Education Breakfast from 7:30-9 a.m. on Friday, August 21.
It will be on the second floor of the Henderson County Public Library. The buffet line will open at 7:15 a.m.
According to the chamber, the gathering brings together community members, business leaders, and educators to share important updates and discuss the future of education in our region. Guest speakers will include Dr. Ron Patterson, Murray State University; Dr. Jason Warren, Henderson Community College; Dr. Bob Lawson, Henderson County Public Schools; and Emma Bridges, Holy Name School.
Tickets are available now through the Henderson Chamber of Commerce website. The pricing is $30 for Chamber members and $60 for non-members.
For more information regarding this event call (270) 826-7505, or email jada@hendersonkychamber.com
HMP&L work continues
During the week of Aug. 3, preparation work begins for Phase 2 of the reconductoring project that Henderson Municipal Power & Light is conducting on South Green Street and Sand Lane.
During the week, there will be reconductoring of transmission lines along South Green Street for the first part of the week, and workers will begin the wire pull after preparation is complete, said a HMP&L release.
The crews will be utilizing the entire ROW along S. Green St. to ensure safe working habits are in effect during the reconduct, said the release. HMP&L said motorists may encounter traveling Work Zone Traffic Control measures in place with one lane traffic in the area as this work phase progresses along South Green Street. This notice is to advise the motoring traffic to be extra cautious when driving through these work zones and obey Traffic Control flagmen if/when there are any lane closures.
