NTF Issue Paper: illegal46.doc. 10-07.

NEBRASKA TAXPAYERS FOR FREEDOM ISSUE PAPER:

TRAIN STATE & LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT TO DETAIN ILLEGAL ALIENS.

BACKGROUND. The immigration reform act of 1996 added sec. 287(g), which, updated, now authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to sign agreements with state and local law enforcement agencies, allowing designated officers to conduct immigration law enforcement functions, after local law enforcement officers receive appropriate training under supervision of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. ICE personnel working with state and local patrol officers, detectives, investigators, and prison officers allows these local and state law officers resources and latitude to pursue investigations of violent crimes, human smuggling, gang and organized crime activity, sexual assaults, drug smuggling, document fraud, and money laundering by illegal aliens. Additional resources and support target remote geographical locations. Under this section, ICE supervises all cross-designated officers when exercising their immigration authority. Officers selected for this duty must be American citizens, undergo a background investigation, have a minimum of 2 yrs. experience in a current position, and have no disciplinary actions pending. Officers receive intensive training and must pass a final competency exam. Once certified, officers can count on the assistance of ICE agents as they perform the immigration functions for which trained. They receive complete authority to enforce federal immigration laws, providing them with additional immunity. A letter from the Department of Homeland Security informs that the department will begin a preliminary assessment of a government subdivision immigration enforcement situation to determine if 287(g) authority would appear appropriate for federal government enforcement of immigration laws in that community.[1] A memorandum of agreement (MOA) defines the scope and limitations of the authority designated. It also establishes the supervisory structure for officers working under the cross-designation and prescribes the agreed upon complaint process governing officer conduct during the life of the MOA.[2]

TRAINING. ICE pays for most training costs and offers 2 training programs, one for 5 weeks for field level law officers, and another for 4-5 weeks for prison personnel. ICE establishes standards and testing for these officers, and certified instructors handle the training.[3] Individual agencies must pay for food and lodging expenses for their officers. Other costs would include personnel overtime, transportation, and alien incarcerations in jail. The cells must meet federal regulations, a requirement for the program. Officers receive training in the details and procedures of criminal law regarding immigration investigations, specific document requirements for illegal aliens, the identification of fraudulent immigration documents, the use of national immigration databases, and avoiding profiling. Trained officers can recognize false documents and conduct an immigration inquiry. After training, officers gain authorization to identify, report, arrest, and detain, on civil or criminal grounds, illegal offenders they encounter during their regular law enforcement duties. They can transport these illegals across state lines to detention centers.Jump to: navigation, search

Law officers of a state or local subdivision can use federal property and facilities.[4] Individual agencies must pay for food and lodging expenses for their officers. Other costs would include personnel overtime, transportation, and alien incarcerations in jail. The cells must meet federal regulations, a requirement for the program.

RATIONALE. Federal law enforcement agencies do not have the manpower to pursue aggressively all immigration violations that pose serious criminal and national security threats or effectively deter those who want to defy our immigration laws. The Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) does not have sufficient resources to deport criminal illegals released from prison. Local and state involvement can reduce the current illegal population in our state and nation and deter illegal immigration. It can aid NE in fighting violent and organized criminal gangs and their crimes. Cooperation would heighten community policing. The inherent authority of local police to arrest illegals stood recognized by theJustice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) and announced by Attorney-General Ashcroft in 2002. This unequivocal conclusion was that arresting aliens who have violated either criminal provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) or civil provisions of the INA that render an alien deportable “is within the inherent authority of thestates.” Such inherent arrest authority Congress never preempted. This authority simply conveys the right to arrest and detain an illegal alien who is removable and transfer him to ICE. Section 287(g) delegates authority that is considerably broader than the authority to only arrest and transfer an illegal to ICE custody. Section 287(g) encompasses a wide spectrum of enforcement powers. It includes the power to investigate immigration violations, interrogate, collect evidence, and assemble an immigration case for prosecution or removal, and the power to take custody of aliens on behalf of the federal government. In their first year, trained Florida state officers made 165 immigration arrests, including ending a phony document production ring in the Naples area. Deputies making even misdemeanor arrests can hold illegal immigrants for ICE.

NEBRASKA IMPLEMENTATION. The programs cost about $520 per officer.[5] Nebraska and its cities could use homeland security grants to fund participation, including overtime costs for officers in training and at work aiding federal immigration enforcement investigations. State and local governments could advise local communities about the scope and nature of the 287(g) program and request community input in prioritizing enforcement activities. Governments can implement programs to fit individual circumstances and requirements.[6] Our state and local law enforcement agencies need promises of compensation for their expenses. There exist costs for transportation to training locations and for temporary replacements for personnel undergoing training. 287(g) can address our state and local violent Hispanic street gang problem. Most gang members are illegal aliens. Their major activities are drug trafficking, theft, gun trafficking, and immigrant smuggling. Our local police departments can provide ICE with names of known gang members, and ICE then can run names through its databases to determine who and how many are illegals. ICE then can conduct raids aided by local law enforcement. Oftentimes, police officers in specific jurisdictions detain gang member illegals who previously were deported or reside in this country illegally. 287(g) would permit local police to continually and routinely remove these gangsters from our streets quickly. ICE through this program could identify and take custody of convicted felons before release from NE prisons and jails before they return to our streets. Our law officers could screen imprisoned felons to determine which are deportable.[7] Such programs will increase NE arrest, prosecution, and removal of criminal illegal aliens and smuggling rings. ICE will train up to 500 additional state and local law officers, so we must act quickly. Internal enforcement is essential to reduce and deter the flood of illegals into Nebraska. We can shape our programs to fit state needs, like deporting illegals driving without valid licenses and insurance and those victimizing Nebraskans by theft, rape, and murder. Our state government or a political subdivision can begin a 287(g) agreement by contacting ICE and then signing a memorandum with DHS.

SAMPLE PETITION HEADING FOR STATE OR CITY.

WE, the residents of Omaha, Nebraska, request our city councilmen to help fund and implement the 287(g) program. WE support enforcing our immigration laws. WE agree that this has to be done, because our federal government is unable and unwilling to do so.
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The 287(g) guidelines are as follows: Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) was made law in 1996 as a result of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA). Section 287(g) authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to enter into agreements with state and local law enforcement agencies, permitting designated officers to perform immigration law enforcement functions, pursuant to a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), provided that the local law enforcement officers receive appropriate training and function under the supervision of sworn U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. Under 287(g), ICE provides state and local law enforcement with the training and subsequent authorization to identify, process, and when appropriate, detain immigration offenders they encounter during their regular, daily law enforcement activity.

NEBRASKA CITIES. As other states and communities begin 287(g) programs, states and municipalities in other states like NE will become magnets for illegal aliens. A Nebraska city can make application, and ICE will confirm receipt of that application certifying the city as a local government with 287(g) immigration act authority. This provision permits trained local law officers to identify and detain immigrant criminals. With court system cooperation, NE cities can more quickly take criminal illegals off our streets to jail, then process them for deportation. ICE agreements would provide our law enforcement agencies opportunities to team with ICE to fight specific challenges in our localities. Local police gang unit officers can receive specialized federal training. During their daily schedules, our law officers often encounter illegal alien criminals and immigration violators who pose a threat to our public safety. Illegal criminals returning to our streets repeatedly victimize our citizens. Nebraska cities can designate available funds for participation. They can contact our congressional delegation to speed the processing of and assist with grant applications. Critics have not yet challenged these implementations in court, so no need to worry about harassing lawsuits. In 7 months following the implementation of its 287g immigration enforcement program, Charlotte, N.C. saw significant decreases in the number of Hispanics arrested for drunken driving, the total number of DUI-related arrests among Hispanics, and the amount of Hispanic gang-related crime.

IN OUR PRISONS. After training, our state corrections officers could perform immigration enforcement functions such as identifying and detaining criminal illegals and immigration violators. After finishing their sentences, violators will go to ICE for processing. ICE has 48 hrs. to remove an inmate or reimburse our state for housing such during the deportation process. Unicameral legislation could establish a 287(g) enforcement division within our corrections dept., staffed with certified officers who could provide regional and local help to jailers to identify and obtain ICE detainers for illegal aliens arrested and booked into county or city detention facilities. When implemented, this legislation would allow a local jail to request state assistance to quickly determine if anyone arrested or incarcerated in that detention facility is an illegal alien, obtain an ICE detainer for that person, and transport him or her to a federally-approved facility for deportation.

TAKE ACTION NOW. Urge your local and state officials to invite ICE to your community to present a 287(g) program. To apply for the program, officials must send a written formal request by fax to one of these ICE regional offices: Chicago, Ill. - Regional Special Agent in Charge: fax 630-684-0843
             Bowling Green, KY. -Resident Agent in Charge: fax 270-842-9730
             Louisville, KY. - Resident Agent in Charge: fax 502-582-6373
             Fort Mitchell - Resident Agent in Charge: fax 859-578-4606

Research, documentation, and analysis for this issue paper done by Nebraska Taxpayers for Freedom, with express prior permission granted for its use by Citizens for Local Control, Cherry County Taxpayers, Dawes County Taxpayers, and other groups in the Tax Freedom Network. 10-07 C

[1] Numbers USA, The 287g Program, A Force Multiplier.

[2] Law Enforcement Delegation of Immigration Authority, Section 287(g) Immigration & Nationality Act, 1996.

[6] James Jay Carafano, Section 287g Is the Right Answer for State and Local Immigration Enforcement, 3-2-2006.

[7] Kris Kobach, Professor of Law at U. of Missouri at KC, Capitol Hill testimony 7-27-2005.