ImmigrationLocal police not required to detain illegals for ICE
Published 7 November 2011
Internal DHS documents reveal local law enforcement agencies are not required to hold undocumented immigrants when requested by the federal government; a coalition of groups against the controversial Secure Communities program obtained a total of three documents under a Freedom of Information request that clarified the policy of detainers for local law enforcement agencies
Documents muddy the illegal immigrant waters further // Source: reporteindigo.com
Internal DHS documents reveal local law enforcement agencies are not required to hold undocumented immigrants when requested by the federal government.
A coalition of groups against the controversial Secure Communities program obtained a total of three documents under a Freedom of Information request that clarified the policy of detainers for local law enforcement agencies.
Under Secure Communities, arrested individuals have their fingerprints scanned and run through an FBI and DHS database to determine their immigration status and criminal record. Immigration authorities are automatically alerted if the individual has entered the country illegally and can issue a detainer – a request by federal authorities to hold those arrested.
The Secure Communities program has increasingly been the subject of controversy with a growing number of local law enforcement agencies, cities, and states opting out of the program. Critics say the program has primarily deported innocent undocumented immigrants rather than the dangerous illegal aliens the program was designed to target.
The latest documents give cities and states who have challenged the program additional support as they indicate DHS does not actually require law enforcement agencies to hold immigrants.
According to one internal DHS document, “A detainer serves only to advise another law enforcement agency that ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] seeks an opportunity to interview and potentially assume custody of an alien presently in the custody of that agency.”
Meanwhile another document, notes from a briefing to Congressional Hispanic Caucus staff in October 2010, said, “Local [law enforcement agencies] are not mandated to honor a detainer, and in some jurisdictions they do not.”
The third document, a series of e-mail exchanges from January 2010, said ICE detainers were “a request” and “there is no penalty if they [local law enforcement] do not comply.”
In response to the documents, Nicole Navas, an ICE spokesperson, emphasized the importance of honoring detainers and the critical role they play in immigration enforcement.
“Detainers are critical to ICE achieving its mission to identify and remove criminal aliens,” she said.
“ICE anticipates that law enforcement agencies will comply with the detainer though ICE has not sought to compel compliance through legal proceedings,” Navas added. “Jurisdictions that ignore detainers bear the risk of possible public safety risks.”
Ignoring ICE’s advice, several local communities including Cook County, Illinois and Santa Clara, California have passed measures instructing local law enforcement agencies to free undocumented immigrants from jails if they were only charged with misdemeanors and felonies.
Cook County lawmakers said the move was principally motivated by budgetary reasons as detainer requests cost the county roughly $15 million a year, none of which is reimbursed. Their decision comes in the immediate wake of Illinois’ attempt to sever its ties to the Secure Communities program entirely.
Disputing Navas’ remarks, Fred Tsao, the policy director for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, said public safety will not suffer now that detainer requests are not being honored in Cook County.
He said there are “significant backstops” that help prevent the release of those accused of serious crimes.
“ICE is still able to pick people up,” he said. “ICE has their names and their addresses, and if ICE really wants them, they can pick them up themselves. They don’t need any help from Cook County.”
