Botetourt is not a sanctuary county for illegal immigrants, Sheriff's Office says

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Botetourt is not a “sanctuary county” for illegal immigrants, the Sheriff’s Office announced in a statement yesterday.

That message was issued to counter a post that Botetourt Sheriff’s Office said is circulating on social media.

The Sheriff’s Office shared a copy of the post, which shows a map of sanctuary cities, counties, states, and correctional from the Center for Immigration’s website. And the post says “the Sheriff isn’t handing over illegals that ICE has a detainer on.”

“We want to clarify that this claim is inaccurate. The Botetourt County Sheriff's Office is committed to enforcing all laws and working closely with federal, state, and local agencies to ensure the safety and security of our community. This includes cooperation with ICE where applicable.” BCSO said.

And to further emphasize how untrue the social media post is, BCSO provided stats.

“In the past twelve (12) months the Botetourt-Craig Regional Jail has transferred 12 inmates to ICE custody for serious felony offenses, including driving under the influence, malicious wounding, and abduction,” the office added.

BCSO advised people to be cautious about the sources of information they trust and share, “especially when such claims are being circulated without proper validation and are absolutely inaccurate.”

“Its unfortunate we are spending taxpayer dollars correcting inaccurate information instead of focusing on allocating our resources to actual criminal matters,” BCSO also said.

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