DARLINGTON - As questions about immigration continue to dominate the national news, only 16 people attended a Darlington Police Department presentation about immigration Wednesday evening.
Darlington Police Chief Jason King prepared the sparsely attended presentation, which explained current immigration rates and compared several immigration statistics in order to better educate residents about immigration issues.
"The way I see it, if not many people have shown up, then this isn't a big issue for most people," King said.
During the presentation, King addressed several misapprehensions about immigration - the most common immigration-related offense police deal with are driver's license violations, he said - and explained the number of immigrants in Lafayette County.
King said the most recent U.S. Census Bureau data found that 15 percent of Lafayette County residents are of Hispanic descent but added that the number is probably closer to 20 percent today. The number of undocumented immigrants in Lafayette County is unknown, but King guessed that about 7 percent of the county's population is undocumented.
The reason for the high number of immigrants in Lafayette County is because of the high number of agriculture jobs - about 70 percent of all farm labor in the U.S. is done by undocumented workers, according to King.
"If all of the immigrants were deported somehow, it would be catastrophic," King said.
King also said that, since immigrants pay taxes like all citizens, they do not present a financial drain or burden upon the state.
Furthermore, higher numbers of immigrants do not correlate to higher crime rates: Darlington's crime rates have dropped to 76 percent lower than the national average since 1999, while its immigrant population has expanded, King said.
"Our last homicide was in 1985 and it was our own judge who did it," King said. "Any race, any culture, any gender is capable of doing something wrong."
Above all, King stressed that the Darlington Police does not treat immigrants different than ordinary citizens, nor does it handle the issue different than other law enforcement agencies.
If undocumented immigrants commit a criminal offense, they are reported to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, King said. Beyond that, local law enforcement has no involvement with enforcing immigration violations.
King said it is imperative for the Darlington Police to maintain a positive relationship with the Hispanic community because "they help us solve crimes in the Hispanic community."
"They're a part of our community now, so it's our duty to serve them," King said.
Darlington Police Chief Jason King prepared the sparsely attended presentation, which explained current immigration rates and compared several immigration statistics in order to better educate residents about immigration issues.
"The way I see it, if not many people have shown up, then this isn't a big issue for most people," King said.
During the presentation, King addressed several misapprehensions about immigration - the most common immigration-related offense police deal with are driver's license violations, he said - and explained the number of immigrants in Lafayette County.
King said the most recent U.S. Census Bureau data found that 15 percent of Lafayette County residents are of Hispanic descent but added that the number is probably closer to 20 percent today. The number of undocumented immigrants in Lafayette County is unknown, but King guessed that about 7 percent of the county's population is undocumented.
The reason for the high number of immigrants in Lafayette County is because of the high number of agriculture jobs - about 70 percent of all farm labor in the U.S. is done by undocumented workers, according to King.
"If all of the immigrants were deported somehow, it would be catastrophic," King said.
King also said that, since immigrants pay taxes like all citizens, they do not present a financial drain or burden upon the state.
Furthermore, higher numbers of immigrants do not correlate to higher crime rates: Darlington's crime rates have dropped to 76 percent lower than the national average since 1999, while its immigrant population has expanded, King said.
"Our last homicide was in 1985 and it was our own judge who did it," King said. "Any race, any culture, any gender is capable of doing something wrong."
Above all, King stressed that the Darlington Police does not treat immigrants different than ordinary citizens, nor does it handle the issue different than other law enforcement agencies.
If undocumented immigrants commit a criminal offense, they are reported to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, King said. Beyond that, local law enforcement has no involvement with enforcing immigration violations.
King said it is imperative for the Darlington Police to maintain a positive relationship with the Hispanic community because "they help us solve crimes in the Hispanic community."
"They're a part of our community now, so it's our duty to serve them," King said.