Immigration Law enforcement by Local Agencies

If anyone should ask why you should push for "Local Enforcement" as the answer to America's illegal immigration crisis, just tell them to "Do the Math!"

Number of Federal agents ---nationwide--- enforcing immigration laws:
2,0000

Number of State, County, and Local police officers with arrest authority:
750,000

Immigration Law Enforcement by Local Agencies, or Local Enforcement
The following is a summary of federal law on the issue of local law enforcement agencies enforcing federal immigration law provisions. Local officials including Mayors, Town Council members, or local Police Chiefs seeking guidance on this issue may contact FAIR’s legal counsel for more detailed information.

Overview

In most cases, federal laws that bar illegal aliens from the United States and punish persons who smuggle, shelter, or employ or otherwise assist illegal aliens can be enforced by local and state police.

State and local law enforcement officials have the general power to investigate and arrest violators of federal immigration statutes without prior Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) knowledge or approval, as long as they are authorized to enforce federal law in general. Although immigration is a federal matter, local law enforcement departments and personnel are not required to turn a blind eye to any illegal activity – including violations of immigration law. It is illegal for local governments to prohibit police cooperation with the INS, and individual officers who report violations are protected by law.

Although the Illegal Immigration and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRAIRA) of 1996 provied new authority for empowering local law enforcement agencies to enforce immigration law provisions against aliens illegally in the country, local police were never powerless to act on immigration law violations before adoption of that legislation. Local police departments have always had the ability to collaborate with the INS in enforcement operations. An example was local cooperation with the INS and the FBI in locating and interviewing foreign students from Middle Eastern countries following the September 11 terrorist attacks.

In addition, Section 274(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), as amended in 1986, authorizes “...all other officers whose duty it is to enforce criminal laws,” to arrest persons for smuggling, harboring or transporting illegal aliens. Furthermore, federal courts had repeatedly affirmed since 1984 that local police may inquire into immigration violations in the course of a routine stop (see e.g., U.S. v. Salinas-Calderon).

Federal–Local Cooperative Agreements — Section 133 of IIRAIRA

In 1996, Congress made several express grants of immigration law enforcement authority to state and local governments. The most important of the legislative actions was contained in IIRIRA §133, which authorized the U.S. Attorney General (AG) to enter into written cooperative agreements with state and local governments to accept the services of state officers or employees in enforcing the INA. Under a ‘Section 133’ agreement, state and local governments may designate officers or employees (“local officers”) who will be authorized to “perform a function of [a federal] immigration officer in relation to the investigation, apprehension, or detention of aliens in the United States.”

Upon approval of the cooperative agreement by the AG, the designated local officer becomes a limited federal immigration official. The designated local officer is subject to the “direction and supervision of the AG” while performing the immigration enforcement function and, if the written agreement so specifies, may use federal property and facilities to accomplish that function.