FORT WORTH (1080 KRLD) - The Tarrant County commissioners court voted 3 to 2 today to extend the controversial 287(g) immigration enforcement program for one more year.
The program allows specially-trained sheriff's deputies to also act as immigration agents.
Precinct One Commissioner Roy Charles Brooks voted against it.
Judge Glen Whitley, who voted in favor of it, says law-abiding immigrants should have nothing to fear.
The Tarrant County Sheriff's Office is one of 80 departments in 21 states participating in the program. It ends at the end of the month, and participating departments have to decide whether to continue the program.
Prior to the vote, the court heard passionate testimony from people on both sides of the issue for more than two and a half hours today.
Those urging the court to extend the program said it makes communities safer, while those opposed said it leads to certain people living in constant fear.
