UN: Forty Local and State Agencies Have Joined Feds in Immigration Enforcement

Excerpt from March 7, 2008 report of UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Migrants.

II.C. Local enforcement operations

57. While migration is a federal matter, ICE is actively seeking the assistance of State and local law enforcement in enforcing immigration law. Under a recent federal law, ICE has been permitted to enter into agreements with state and local law enforcement agencies through voluntary programmes which allow designated officers to carry out immigration law enforcement functions. These state and local law enforcement agencies enter into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) or a memorandum of agreement (MOA) that outlines the scope and limitation of their authority. According to ICE, over 21,485 officers nationwide are participating in this programme, and more than 40 municipal, county, and state agencies have applied. In 2006, this programme resulted in 6,043 arrests and so far in 2007, another 3,327.

58. Local law enforcement agencies that have signed MOUs so far are:

• Florida Department of Law Enforcement (the first to enter into the agreement)
• Alabama Department of Public Safety
• Arizona Department of Corrections
• Los Angeles, County Sheriff’s Department
• San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner Department