State troopers worked with federal ICE agents this week to arrest multiple people at northwest Alabama traffic stops, part of a broader scheme to ramp up immigration enforcement across the state.
A spokeswoman with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said state highway patrol and special agents conducted driver license checkpoints within Franklin and Colbert counties on Wednesday while ICE agents were present.
The Colbert County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond for a request for more information.
Franklin County Sheriff Shannon Oliver on Wednesday told AL.com that state and federal agents arrested several people at checkpoints near a poultry plant in Russellville.
Statewide, more immigrants are being arrested at traffic checkpoints, said immigration attorney Brett Pouncey.
“A number of municipalities now are working with ICE to do roadblocks, and that also includes the Alabama state troopers,” Pouncey told AL.com. “I’ve had clients or potential clients say that they were stopped at these predetermined ’license checks.’”
It is still unclear just how many people were detained this week, though local officials and community watch groups estimate at least 20 were taken into custody near the meat processing plant.
State troopers directed questions about arrests to ICE. A representative for ICE has not responded to AL.com’s requests for comment.
Evelyn Servin, an immigrant community organizer in Russellville, said many people there are afraid to go out and do grocery shopping or let their kids go to school because there are rumors of more arrests.
Hispanic residents made up 40% of the city’s population in 2020.
“It means that just because of the color of their skin, they could be racially profiled and be taken away from their family members. These are folks that are hardworking individuals,” Servin said, adding that she thinks the local police should not partner with ICE.
In Huntsville on Thursday, protestors stood on the steps of City Hall to ask local police not to partner with ICE.
Gov. Kay Ivey celebrated the Russellville bust, which she said was a result of a close partnership between state and federal law enforcement.
“I previously directed the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency and our other public safety cabinet agencies to work closely with ICE to catch criminal illegals, and this bust is one example of the fruits of our labor,” she told AL.com in a statement on Thursday evening. “Driver license checkpoints occur all over the state and are one of the ways we stop criminals in their tracks, and now, we include ICE agents in these efforts.
“Criminal illegals are not welcome in Alabama, and we will continue using all the tools in our toolbox to keep Alabama citizens safe.”
As of late July, Alabama was on track to double its rate of arrests of immigrants without legal status from last year. President Donald Trump has set a goal of 3,000 ICE arrests a day.
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