President Donald Trump and border czar Tom Homan have already started making good on their promises to detain and deport illegal aliens, with priority being given to those with arrests here or in their home country’s or prior deportations.
1819 News spoke to Sherriff Huey Hoss Mack, executive director of the Alabama Sheriffs Association, about Trump’s priorities and initial orders and what they could mean for Alabama.
Mack explained that the state has approximately 500 federal beds already funded through contracts with the federal government. He estimates that approximately 12 counties around Alabama have those contracts including Baldwin, Monroe, Escambia and Limestone.
Those beds, however, are used for ICE, the federal marshal services, the FBI and any other federal agencies that make arrests. He noted that individuals charged with white-collar crimes are held in them during their trials. If convicted those individuals would move from local to federal facilities.
Of Alabama's current beds, Mack says that a rough estimate three to four weeks ago put them at 90%-95% full.
In an interview on Fox News Channel yesterday, Homan said, “We're concentrating on the worst first, the public safety threats and national security threats.
"And just yesterday, in the last 24 hours, ICE arrested over 308... serious criminals. Some of them were murderers. Some of them were rapists. Some of them raped a child. Some were sexual assault of a child," he added.
Alabama has had several high-profile cases of illegal aliens committing crimes; a new report as recently as Tuesday of an illegal alien from Guatemala arrested in Limestone County and charged with sexually abusing a child under the age of 12.
According to the sheriff's office, Lopez-Martinez confessed his crime to an investigator, stating, "It is what it is." He was arrested, charged, and placed on a $250,000 bond. Additionally, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) placed an immigration detainer on Lopez-Martinez.
A detainer gives a ICE 72-hours to make a determination of if they would like the individual held or released.
Under the previous administration, ICE could grant a bond too they would be allowed to bond out and frequently didn’t show back up for their federal hearing dates. Mack said that since the Trump administration is just beginning, he, “doesn’t know if there’s been a chance for any changes.”
Mack told 1819 News, “One thing the new administration is looking at, not sure if it’s gone into effect, you’d hold them regardless.”
Apryl Marie Fogel is a Birmingham resident who frequently appears on and guest hosts radio programs around the state. She can be reached at aprylmarie.fogel@1819news.com or on X and Facebook at @aprylmarie.
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