Despite anonymous reports from Indian River County School District employees that officers are “rounding up illegal immigrants” in Fellsmere, Sebastian and Vero Beach, Sheriff Deryl Loar says increased officer presence is targeting “illegal drug trafficking.”
The Indian River County Sheriff’s Office has received “Operation Stonegarden” grants from the Department of Homeland Security for the last several years, he said, which coordinates border patrol and county officer efforts to “thwart narcotics from coming over the border,” Loar said.
Loar said the narcotics interdiction effort is being “concentrated on the waterway and 95,” not around the schools or churches, although officers were in Fellsmere.
Loar said Operation Stonegarden is ongoing, “but doesn’t target any particular ethnic group.”
Loar was adamant the sheriff’s office is not coordinating any immigration or narcotics operation with the various school resource officers it has in most of the county schools.
“Absolutely not. That is not part of the contract agreement,” he said.
According to school sources, “Many Hispanic students are no longer showing up for school at Sebastian River Middle School and the ones that do are frightened that their parents are going to be arrested and deported.”
Other reports claim “ICE (Immigration Customs Enforcement) is in Fellsmere . . . (and) ICE is now in the Vero Beach Hispanic community.”
“Fellsmere Elementary, Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission Church and other places,” in Fellsmere were also said to have increased officer presence.
Fellsmere Chief of Police Keith Touchberry said he was told of Operation Stonegarden, but they are not participating.
Vero Beach Police Captain Kevin Martin said he was unaware of the county operation. The three school resource officers they have at St. Helen’s, Rosewood Magnet Elementary and Beachland Elementary have seen no increased sheriff, border patrol or immigration officers around the school.
Indian River County School District Public Information Officer Cristen Maddux said, “We have not seen a decline in attendance at any of our school campuses, nor do we have any reports of immigration officers being on any of our campuses.”
Operation Stonegarden is a federal Homeland Security grant, which gives local law enforcement up to $85,000 a year to help U.S. Customs and Border Protection to keep borders safe. States that border Mexico and Canada, as well as those with “international water borders” are eligible for funds.
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