Sand Mountain Reporter

The North Alabama Hispanic Committee is upset over letters concerning the 287(g) program sent from the city of Albertville to leaders in Washington, D.C.

The Southern Poverty Law Center obtained the letters athrough the Freedom of Information Act.

NAHC claims some of the language used in the letters sets a bad example for public officials and sends the wrong message to the Hispanic community.

One of the letters, dated April 27, 2009, reads, “Our city Albertville, Alabama is currently and has been facing a tremendous challenge in regards to a large population of Hispanic immigrants, the majority of which we believe to be here illegally.”

“I think the language in these letters, in these requests speak for themselves,” Aylene Sepulveda, the organizer of the North Alabama Hispanic Committee said. “These are government elected officials and when you use such terminology as ‘sanctuary city’ and ‘illegal aliens,’ not undocumented immigrants or undocumented aliens, which is fine, but illegal for every reference, and ‘Mexican drug cartels’ instead of drug cartels and so on and so forth.

“That kind of vocabulary really speaks poorly of our area.”

The other issue NAHC raised was the present city administration previously told some of the Hispanic Community who met with city leaders that the 287(g) program “was just a plan,” which the group took to mean the city was not actively pursuing it, and members of NAHC feel the city tried to hide their intentions.

Mayor Lindsey Lyons said he never tried to hide his intentions of going after 287(g) training for some of Albertville’s officers.

“It has been common knowledge for the whole community that I have diligently pursued for our law enforcement to obtain the 287(g) training program,” Lyons said.

“And I will continue to do so because it will have a positive effect for our citizens.”

In July 2008, while Lyons was running for city council, he expressed his support for the previous councils decision to authorize the Police Chief Benny Womack to apply for 287(g) training.

One of the foundations of his platform was to address the issue of Albertville being a “sanctuary city.”

The SPLC requested any and all documents related to the 287(g) program, or anything referencing a request for a detention center in Albertville.

According to the mayor and Womack, the city has given all of the documents the SPLC that have been requested.

“They are welcome to any and all documents that we can produce for them,” Lyons said. “There is nothing to hide and, as a matter of fact, I think it would be welcome news for the community to know exactly what we have been pursuing,” Lyons said.

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Serving Albertville and the Sand Mountain region

Publisher: Ben Shurett

1603 Progress Drive
Albertville, Alabama 35950

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