Interior Enforcement
New Legal Analysis Shows State Compliance with ICE Detainers May Violate the Constitution
Chicago, New York, and San Francisco now prevent local jails from honoring immigration detainers—requests from federal immigration officials for state and local jails to hold a person so that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents can investigate the person’s immigration status—unless an arrestee has been charged with or convicted of certain criminal offenses. And California’s Trust Act, which does virtually the same thing, will go into effect early next year. Yet, while these states have limited who can be subject to an immigration detainer, there are legal questions surrounding this selective enforcement that call into question whether detainers are legal at all. Read More
Local Officials Improve Immigration Enforcement Policies as Congress Fails to Act
The county council in King County, Washington, decided this week that local law enforcement officials will stop honoring federal immigration agents’ requests to detain immigrants who are arrested for low-level crimes. They voted 5-4 for the new policy on Monday, and supporters hope the change “will build trust between local police and immigrants who don’t report crimes for fear they or a family member will be deported,” according to the Seattle Times. Read More
Detention Bed Mandate is Just One Example of How Immigration is Being Criminalized
For more than a century, study after study has confirmed two simple yet powerful truths about the relationship between immigration and crime: immigrants are less likely to commit serious crimes or be behind bars than the native-born, and high rates of immigration are not associated with higher rates of either violent or property crime. Unfortunately, immigration policy is frequently shaped more by fear and stereotype than by empirical evidence, which is why immigrants are so often treated like dangerous criminals by the U.S. immigration system. Whole new classes of “felonies” are created which apply only to immigrants, deportation is viewed as a just punishment for even minor crimes, and policies to end unauthorized immigration become more and more punitive rather than more rational and practical. In short, immigration itself is being criminalized. Read More
California Governor Signs Sweeping Immigration Reforms into Law
On the same day thousands of immigrant activists rallied across the country for immigration reform, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed several bills into law that put the state at the forefront of the efforts to fix immigration policies at the state and local level. Among the measures Brown approved was the TRUST Act, which limits who state and local police can hold for possible deportation. "While Washington waffles on immigration, California's forging ahead," Brown said in a statement. "I'm not waiting." Read More
DHS Issues Tropical Storm Karen Guidance
As they have done during previous weather-related emergencies, the Department of Homeland Security issued guidance directing that immigration enforcement activities be suspended. The directive notes: “…to the extent that Karen impacts law enforcement operations and/or the storm triggers the need for an officially ordered evacuation or an emergency government… Read More
ICE Detainers Continue to Target Immigrants with No Criminal Convictions
This week, the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) released a troubling new report showing that only about 10% of ICE detainers target “individuals who pose a serious threat to public safety or national security.” Although the agency’s highest enforcement priorities are threats to public safety and national security, government data shows that, in recent months, the majority of detainers were issued for individuals who had no criminal convictions. Read More
Colorado Emergency Relief Efforts Impeded by Immigrants’ Mistrust of Law Enforcement
The recent flooding in Colorado, in which eight people died and property losses are likely to reach $2 billion, offers another reminder that local law enforcement efforts are often hindered by our broken immigration system. The Denver Post reported that some unauthorized immigrants risk injury or miss out on assistance because they are afraid to interact with police. For example, Augustina Tema’s husband, who is an unauthorized immigrant, was afraid to come outside when police officers went door-to-door to warn residents of the pending flood. Augustina, a legal resident, expressed fear of applying for assistance because of her husband’s status, a fear other undocumented families echoed. For the undocumented families, the tragedy of losing their homes to flooding is compounded by the loss of their “paper trail”—materials that would be needed to prove residency for any future legalization programs. Disaster-related documentation problems extend to those legally residing in the United States if the papers that prove an immigrant may legally live and work in the United States are lost as well, further hindering emergency assistance. Read More
Local Immigration Enforcement Harms Community Policing and Public Safety
Many local municipalities and law enforcement agencies are concerned that local immigration enforcement programs such as the 287(g) program, which deputize local police to perform duties of federal immigration agents, destroy the relationship between the police and the immigrant communities on whom they rely for cooperation and crime reporting. A report released this month by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) states that these fears are unfounded and that local immigration enforcement has no effect on cooperation with police. However, the data cited by CIS, which include crime reporting statistics and a study of the effects of the Prince William County 287(g) program, do not support these claims, and in fact suggest the opposite, that immigration enforcement by local police severely damages relationships with immigration communities and harms public safety. Read More
States Drive Positive Change on Immigration While House Is Stuck in Low Gear
Despite the slow pace of immigration reform in the House of Representatives, it has been a banner year for legislation at the state level to help undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. As the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) explains in a new report, “Inclusive Policies Advance Dramatically in the States,” state legislatures approved laws allowing undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses, qualify for in-state tuition, and expand worker’s rights. And states and local governments considered measures to limit involvement with immigration enforcement. This was a sharp change from previous years when officials debated measures with provisions that mimicked Arizona’s SB-1070. In the wake of record numbers of Latino and Asian voters participating in the 2012 elections, several state legislatures by and large moved in a more positive direction as lawmakers from both parties supported pro-immigration measures. Read More
Newark Police Department Latest to Push Back on ICE Detainer Requests
The Newark Police Department is the most recent local law enforcement agency to announce that it will refuse requests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain people who have been picked up for minor criminal offenses. Newark is the first city in New Jersey to stop honoring detainer requests from ICE, and the announcement follows news that New Orleans has also adopted a similar policy. Newark Police Director Samuel DeMaio signed the policy change on July 24: Read More
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