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Bryan Cox / U.S. Immigration and Customs Enf
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Monday published the first weekly report of cities that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities and the alleged crimes committed by the undocumented immigrants they had been seeking.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Declined Detainer Outcome Report was created under one of President Trump’s executive orders in an attempt to single out sanctuary jurisdictions.
The report, which covers Jan. 28 to Feb 3, lists jurisdictions that didn’t honor ICE requests to hold undocumented immigrants or notify agents when they are released from custody. In total, the jurisdictions declined 206 detainer requests issued by ICE.
The crimes highlighted in the report include drug possession, domestic violence, and DUIs. They also note the undocumented immigrant’s nationality.
“When law enforcement agencies fail to honor immigration detainers and release serious criminal offenders, it undermines ICE’s ability to protect the public safety and carry out its mission,” Acting ICE Director Thomas Homan said in a statement.
ICE’s goal, he added, is to build cooperative and respectful relationships with local police.
“We will continue collaborating with them to help ensure that illegal aliens who may pose a threat to our communities are not released onto the streets to potentially harm individuals living within our communities,” Homan said.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement / Via ice.gov
Federal court rulings have found that holding people longer than usual for ICE violated the Fourth Amendment. As a result some local police departments stopped honoring ICE detainers.
Rep. Luis V. Gutiérrez in a statement said the report was an attempt to shame state and local police who don’t hold undocumented immigrants without a federal warrant.
“Trump’s presidency is based on a number of lies, but one of the most important to Bannon, Trump, and Sessions is to paint all immigrants as killers and rapists,” Gutiérrez said. “The reality is that in most cities, the
police have found that acting as deportation police makes it harder to keep
their cities safe,” Gutiérrez said
The report includes counties with the highest number of declined detainer requests. Clark County, Nevada, had the highest at 51 for the week DHS documented. It was followed by Nassau, New York, at 38, and Cook County, Illinois, at 13.
DHS also published the reasons why cities and counties declined to honor their requests. Federal officials also note that they are relying on news reports, published policies, and information given to ICE field agents, and that the figures are not comprehensive.
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