Lawmakers learn about immigration during committee hearing Nov. 12, 2024 Rep. Josie Raymond, D-Louisville, asks a question regarding children during Tuesday’s Interim Joint Committee on State Government meeting. A high-resolution photo can be found here. FRANKFORT — Legislators put the spotlight on immigration during Tuesday’s Interim Joint Committee on State Government meeting. Jeremy Bacon, an assistant field office director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, gave lawmakers an overview of enforcement and removal operations, among other immigration topics. Bacon is based in the agency’s Chicago Field Office, which covers Kentucky. Committee Co-Chair Sen. Robby Mills, R-Henderson, said committee members have discussed immigration issues recently, but have more questions. “We have kind of tasked Jeremy with talking about the ICE process and anything he can familiarize us with on the current process,” Mills said. Bacon said he strongly thinks immigration is an important topic at the federal, state and local levels. He has approximately 16 years of federal law enforcement experience within immigration. “ICE’s mission is to protect America from the cross-border crime and illegal immigration that threaten national security, public safety,” he said. “This mission is executed through the enforcement of more than 400 federal statutes focusing on smart immigration enforcement, preventing terrorism and combating the illegal movement of people and goods.” Bacon said the laws are enforced through four main phases – identification, arrests, detainment and removal of “subjects that are amenable to our immigration and nationality laws.” Bacon said a detainer is a lawful request issued by Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) of ICE to federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. With a detainer, agencies have custody of an identified noncitizen for up to 48 hours beyond when they would have otherwise been released, or to quickly provide notification. This allows ERO time to assume custody before the subject is released. Mills asked Bacon if a national database or a reporting mechanism exists that officials at local jails can use to report information about non-American inmates’ arrests and other information. Bacon said this is not the case, but as part of the screening process, authorities may ask the country of citizenship or where they are from. “Wouldn’t that make sense for safety’s sake that we know who’s in our jails, and that would make your work a lot easier, wouldn’t it?” Mills said. “It would make our work exponentially easier. Yes, sir,” Bacon answered. Rep. Josie Raymond, D-Louisville, asked Bacon about the effects of ICE’s work with children. “Are we deporting any children from Kentucky, and if we’re not, what happens when a parent is deported,” she said. Bacon said in terms of children, it’s a more of a national issue and he would have to give Raymond an answer later. “Every encounter that we have, we’re asking the questions regarding children. We ask the mother and father, ‘Do you have any kids? Where are they?’ that type of situation. And those are all part of the aggravating and mitigating factors as we’re going through the process to determine if and when we take custody of someone,” he said. Sen. Michael J. Nemes, R-Shepherdsville, asked Bacon if he had seen child and human trafficking in Kentucky because of the increase in immigrants. “I would have to defer that to one of our other agencies here in Kentucky, because like I said, specifically that trafficking portion is not typically handled by ERO officers, respectfully,” Bacon said. Sen. Phillip Wheeler, R-Pikeville, asked Bacon about news stories depicting flights with people using an app who are seeking to immigrate to the United States. “Is that happening here in Kentucky?” Wheeler asked. “To my knowledge, no sir,” Bacon said. Mills said it looks like ICE is conducting business with “one hand tied behind your back.” The post Lawmakers learn about immigration during committee hearing appeared first on The Lexington Times.