DELPHOS — The Trinity United Methodist Men  got the rundown on Allen County Sheriff Dan Beck’s department’s efforts on the illegal immigration issue in the country Monday evening.
Beck, along with Capt. Steve Hoverman, spoke to the more than two dozen in attendance about how he and his deputies realized the county had an immigration problem.
“I was driving to work everyday and I began to notice a change in the demographics of the people I was seeing,” Sheriff Beck said. “That alone didn’t make me really take a closer look. It was a tragic van crash.”
In June 2005, a van carrying five people ran a stop sign on State Route 115 and Lincoln Highway, resulting in three deaths. Only one of the five in the van was a legal citizen. One of the fatalities is buried in the township cemetery with the false name provided on documents.
“We identified the other illegal immigrant and his family claimed the body,” Beck said. “The other one was never claimed.”
Six weeks later, Butler County called Sheriff Beck for assistance in finding a fugitive accused of raping a child. An Allen County deputy was assigned to the task force to help locate the man and the group faced a tight-lipped community.
“When we went into the neighborhood where we thought this individual might be, we found that no one wanted to talk to us. We found the house he was hiding in and they were leaving him alone with their women and children while they went to work everyday,” he explained.
Beck said the mentality of illegal aliens toward law enforcement is quite different than the average citizen.
“They come from countries where law enforcement is so corrupt they know they are going to have to pay to avoid jail,” Beck explained. “They don’t realize we are here to help. They don’t report crimes and therefore there are more than likely many crimes we don’t and won’t know about.”
Beck added that since they are coming into the country illegally, they don’t go through the naturalization process and learn why Americans love their country.
“The U.S. is a nation of laws, not of men. All men are equal because we are all bound by the same laws and standards,” Beck said. “What sets the United States apart from other countries is the way our government is set up and managed.”
Illegal immigration has necessitated changes in Beck’s department.
“A few years ago, I would never have known what a falsified document looked like,” Captain Hoverman said. “I saw quite a few and thought they were legitimate and sent them on their way. I also never knew there was no such thing an ‘international driver’s license.’ You can buy one on the Internet, though.”
The force has now been trained to spot false documentation; when an illegal immigrant presents one to an officer, that is a state offense that allows the sheriff’s office to hold that person.
“When they present that false documentation, they are breaking the law and we have the right and even duty to find out who they really are,” Beck said.
Deputies have also taken basic Spanish courses so when they stop someone who speaks the language they can’t use the ‘no habla ingles’ excuse.
“Now, when I stop someone and they say that,” Hoverman said. “I can respond to them in Spanish and its apparent pretty quickly whether they are doing something wrong or not.”
Beck stressed that the illegal immigrant population is not just Spanish-speaking people.
“We have illegal immigrants from India, Poland, Romania and nine other countries. It’s not just Mexicans or Spanish-speaking individuals,” Beck explained.
The sheriff’s department also has an agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to transport illegal aliens to Cleveland or Detroit, assisting a much-overtaxed program. ICE has only 48 investigators in Ohio, the seventh-most populated U.S. state.
For Beck, the issue is not just catching people who have entered the country illegally. Businesses who hire illegal aliens are also coming under fire.
“I had a lady call me to thank me for working on this problem. She said, ‘No, I really want to thank you. I am a single mom and the children’s father pays nothing. I had been on a waiting list for two years at this place and have been working for two weeks now. I don’t think that would have happened if you hadn’t cracked down in the hiring of illegal aliens’,” he added. “A lot of businesses are like we were. They didn’t know how to tell if documents were false or not. Now they can call us and we can come out and look at them.
“We also have businesses who make it a common practice to hire illegals. We simply tell them that the IRS is interested in their records and they become very willing to work with us.”