DARLINGTON - In light of President Donald Trump's repeated promises to crack down on illegal immigration, members of local law enforcement are moving to reassure Hispanic communities to not be afraid to contact police.
"We've sent letters to Hispanic churches and businesses in the area," Darlington Police Chief Jason King said. "We've let them know that we haven't received any instructions or requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and we probably won't."
King said he does not want Darlington's Hispanic community to be fearful of contacting the police if they are victims or witnesses of a crime.
"They're definitely living under a blanket of fear," Darlington Police Sergeant Tony Ruesga said.
Ruesga is the only officer in either Green or Lafayette County who is fluent in Spanish and, as such, has served as the Darlington Police Department's liaison to the Hispanic community in Darlington.
"I definitely think that communities that don't address this issue will see a decline in Hispanic people being willing to talk to police," Ruesga said.
Ruesga said part of his work with the Hispanic community is to ensure the community has effective lines of communication with law enforcement.
"We try to hold open houses once or twice a year," Ruesga said. "We'll invite the Hispanic community to the department, we'll show them around and then we'll have a meeting where we discuss laws and other sorts of hot topics."
Ruesga said the most recent of these open houses saw 30 to 40 people in attendance.
"Months later, we still get calls from people saying "I wasn't at the open house, so can you explain this again?'" Ruesga said. "Word spreads."
Green County Sheriff Mark Rohloff said his department has not planned any formal outreach to Hispanic communities, as the Hispanic population is such a small percentage of the total. However, he also emphasized that the Green County Sheriff's Department is not empowered to enforce any immigration laws, which he said is unlikely to change in the future.
According to 2015 estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, Lafayette County has a Hispanic population of 595, about 3.5 percent of the total population. Green County's Hispanic population is estimated at 1,072, or 2.9 percent.
Monroe Police Chief Fred Kelley said, in his experience, the Hispanic community has become more willing to work with the police in the past 10 years.
"The language barrier is still the biggest problem for us," Kelley said, saying the department had to bring in Spanish-speaking officers from other counties during a homicide investigation in 2015. "We don't have a large enough Hispanic community to recruit Spanish speakers."
Despite language difficulties, Kelley said the police currently have little difficulty in communicating with the Hispanic population - "and we hope to keep it that way," he said.
Monroe resident Rene Castellanos said that, in his experience, the Hispanic community in Monroe has very little interaction with the police.
"We would like to talk with the police," Castellanos said. "But we don't really do that. We don't really know who the police chief is, and we don't know who the sheriff is."
However, Castellanos said he does not believe the Hispanic community feels threatened by law enforcement.
"We'd like to talk with them more, because of the things that are going on recently," Castellanos said, referring to President Trump's recent and repeated promises to crack down on illegal immigration.
However, King said that not only has nothing changed in how local law enforcement handles immigration matters but public perceptions and media portrayals of Immigration and Customs Enforcement are misrepresenting the facts.
"It's been kind of a misunderstanding," King said. "The crackdown is against criminal aliens - people who have committed a crime, been deported and returned to America. They're not going to be going after just any immigration violation."
Ruesga said that, even if the Darlington Police Department was inclined to carry out immigration enforcement, the department has neither the resources nor the authority to do so.
"We've come out and told them it'll just be business as usual," Ruesga said.
"We've sent letters to Hispanic churches and businesses in the area," Darlington Police Chief Jason King said. "We've let them know that we haven't received any instructions or requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and we probably won't."
King said he does not want Darlington's Hispanic community to be fearful of contacting the police if they are victims or witnesses of a crime.
"They're definitely living under a blanket of fear," Darlington Police Sergeant Tony Ruesga said.
Ruesga is the only officer in either Green or Lafayette County who is fluent in Spanish and, as such, has served as the Darlington Police Department's liaison to the Hispanic community in Darlington.
"I definitely think that communities that don't address this issue will see a decline in Hispanic people being willing to talk to police," Ruesga said.
Ruesga said part of his work with the Hispanic community is to ensure the community has effective lines of communication with law enforcement.
"We try to hold open houses once or twice a year," Ruesga said. "We'll invite the Hispanic community to the department, we'll show them around and then we'll have a meeting where we discuss laws and other sorts of hot topics."
Ruesga said the most recent of these open houses saw 30 to 40 people in attendance.
"Months later, we still get calls from people saying "I wasn't at the open house, so can you explain this again?'" Ruesga said. "Word spreads."
Green County Sheriff Mark Rohloff said his department has not planned any formal outreach to Hispanic communities, as the Hispanic population is such a small percentage of the total. However, he also emphasized that the Green County Sheriff's Department is not empowered to enforce any immigration laws, which he said is unlikely to change in the future.
According to 2015 estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, Lafayette County has a Hispanic population of 595, about 3.5 percent of the total population. Green County's Hispanic population is estimated at 1,072, or 2.9 percent.
Monroe Police Chief Fred Kelley said, in his experience, the Hispanic community has become more willing to work with the police in the past 10 years.
"The language barrier is still the biggest problem for us," Kelley said, saying the department had to bring in Spanish-speaking officers from other counties during a homicide investigation in 2015. "We don't have a large enough Hispanic community to recruit Spanish speakers."
Despite language difficulties, Kelley said the police currently have little difficulty in communicating with the Hispanic population - "and we hope to keep it that way," he said.
Monroe resident Rene Castellanos said that, in his experience, the Hispanic community in Monroe has very little interaction with the police.
"We would like to talk with the police," Castellanos said. "But we don't really do that. We don't really know who the police chief is, and we don't know who the sheriff is."
However, Castellanos said he does not believe the Hispanic community feels threatened by law enforcement.
"We'd like to talk with them more, because of the things that are going on recently," Castellanos said, referring to President Trump's recent and repeated promises to crack down on illegal immigration.
However, King said that not only has nothing changed in how local law enforcement handles immigration matters but public perceptions and media portrayals of Immigration and Customs Enforcement are misrepresenting the facts.
"It's been kind of a misunderstanding," King said. "The crackdown is against criminal aliens - people who have committed a crime, been deported and returned to America. They're not going to be going after just any immigration violation."
Ruesga said that, even if the Darlington Police Department was inclined to carry out immigration enforcement, the department has neither the resources nor the authority to do so.
"We've come out and told them it'll just be business as usual," Ruesga said.