IRLI Supports ICE Basic Ordering Agreements with Sheriffs to Detain Criminal Illegal Aliens

Press Releases

January 19, 2018

Ensuring the safety and security of our communities

WASHINGTON – The Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) supports the recent announcement that federal immigration authorities will work with county sheriffs to execute Basic Ordering Agreements (BOAs) that will allow local law enforcement authorities (LEAs) to detain criminal illegal aliens in local jails for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing and removal from the United States. At a press conference on Jan. 17, officials from ICE, the National Sheriffs’ Association, and Major County Sheriffs of America announced the phased implementation of the BOAs for seventeen Florida counties.

Traditionally, federal immigration authorities have used detainer requests to ask LEAs to hold an alien until ICE can assume custody. However, as a result of several recent lawsuits and faulty court rulings that LEA compliance with ICE detainer requests violate alleged 4th Amendment rights of illegal aliens, many sheriffs have backed off of holding criminal aliens for fear of lawsuits. BOAs will resolve this issue because under a BOA ICE assumes immediate legal custody of the alien and the LEA is merely housing the alien pursuant to a contract with the federal government. A BOA is authorized by federal law and is analogous to what is being done in jails throughout the country that have contracts with the U.S. Marshals Service.

“This action is a positive step to remove the threat of litigation against local sheriffs who receive ICE detainers,” said Dale L. Wilcox, IRLI’s executive director and general counsel. “The agreement will reveal who has been hiding behind 4th amendment concerns to shield illegal aliens, and who is truly committed to protecting the lawful residents in their communities.”

IRLI has fought in support of detainer requests for criminal illegal aliens, filing a friend-of-the-court brief in Mendez v. Bradshaw, a challenge to ICE detainer requests, and in El Cenizo et al v. Texas, in support of the new Texas statute that requires all local police agencies in the state to honor immigration detainers issued by ICE.

For additional information, contact: Brian Lonergan • 202-232-5590 • [email protected]

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