NCJ Number
227761
Date Published
April 2009
Length
256 pages
Annotation
This report presents the findings from focus group meetings held across the Country, a national conference, surveys, and scholarly papers prepared specifically for this project, detailing the perspectives and insights of law enforcement practitioners directly impacted by the enforcement of immigration.
Abstract
In 1996, Congress passed legislation expanding the role of local law enforcement in Federal immigration enforcement resulting in the well-known U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) 287 (g) program that authorizes Federal officials to enter into written agreements with State and local law enforcement agencies to carry out the functions of immigration officers. However, law enforcement agencies have expressed concern in participating in immigration enforcement efforts, as well as the impact on local law enforcement, with already strained State and local resources. In response to these concerns, the Police Foundation launched a national effort to examine the implications of local law enforcement participation. Highlights of recommendations resulting from this effort include: (1) the costs of participating in the U.S. Customs Enforcement's (ICE) 287(g) program outweigh the benefits; (2) police officers should be prohibited from arresting and detaining persons to solely investigate immigration status in the absence of probable cause of an independent State criminal law violation; (3) local and State authorities participating in Federal immigration enforcement activities should develop policies and procedures for monitoring racial profiling and abuse of authority; and (4) there is a need for empirical research on ICE's 287(g) program and other methods of police collaboration with Federal immigration authorities; and (5) local law enforcement leaders and policing organizations should place pressure on the Federal government to comprehensively improve border security and reform the immigration system. The report contains 15 appendices, including a focus group summary, select conference presentations, and research on the rights of undocumented immigrants and the legal framework for the enforcement of immigration laws, demographics, immigration and criminality, evaluation of federal efforts to collaborate with local police on immigration enforcement (287(g) program), a national survey of law enforcement executives on immigration issues and local policing, the experience of undocumented youth, and a survey of law enforcement executives attending the foundation conference about their views on local immigration enforcement issues. 41 references