Jail officials notify feds of prisoners born outside U.S.
Dutchess County Jail officials in Poughkeepsie released 24 prisoners to federal authorities from 2016 through mid-2017, according to The Poughkeepsie Journal. A spokesman told the paper that jail policy is to notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement whenever anyone in custody was born outside of the U.S.
“We don’t know if they are undocumented. We go by their place of birth, and if they are foreign born we notify Homeland Security,” said Sgt. Jason Ramsey, the jail’s booking supervisor.
The Putnam County Jail in Carmel does not have a similar policy, a Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman told The Current.
About 10 percent of the population of Putnam and Dutchess counties is foreign-born, and the highest percentage of immigrants in the state, aside from New York City and Long Island, is found in the Hudson Valley, according to the state comptroller.
