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TITLE 8 > CHAPTER 12 > SUBCHAPTER II > Part IX > § 1357Prev | Next § 1357. Powers of immigration officers and employees

(a) Powers without warrant
Any officer or employee of the Service authorized under regulations prescribed by the Attorney General shall have power without warrant—
(1) to interrogate any alien or person believed to be an alien as to his right to be or to remain in the United States;
(2) to arrest any alien who in his presence or view is entering or attempting to enter the United States in violation of any law or regulation made in pursuance of law regulating the admission, exclusion, expulsion, or removal of aliens, or to arrest any alien in the United States, if he has reason to believe that the alien so arrested is in the United States in violation of any such law or regulation and is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained for his arrest, but the alien arrested shall be taken without unnecessary delay for examination before an officer of the Service having authority to examine aliens as to their right to enter or remain in the United States;
(3) within a reasonable distance from any external boundary of the United States, to board and search for aliens any vessel within the territorial waters of the United States and any railway car, aircraft, conveyance, or vehicle, and within a distance of twenty-five miles from any such external boundary to have access to private lands, but not dwellings, for the purpose of patrolling the border to prevent the illegal entry of aliens into the United States;
(4) to make arrests for felonies which have been committed and which are cognizable under any law of the United States regulating the admission, exclusion, expulsion, or removal of aliens, if he has reason to believe that the person so arrested is guilty of such felony and if there is likelihood of the person escaping before a warrant can be obtained for his arrest, but the person arrested shall be taken without unnecessary delay before the nearest available officer empowered to commit persons charged with offenses against the laws of the United States; and
(5) to make arrests—
(A) for any offense against the United States, if the offense is committed in the officer’s or employee’s presence, or
(B) for any felony cognizable under the laws of the United States, if the officer or employee has reasonable grounds to believe that the person to be arrested has committed or is committing such a felony,
if the officer or employee is performing duties relating to the enforcement of the immigration laws at the time of the arrest and if there is a likelihood of the person escaping before a warrant can be obtained for his arrest.
Under regulations prescribed by the Attorney General, an officer or employee of the Service may carry a firearm and may execute and serve any order, warrant, subpoena, summons, or other process issued under the authority of the United States. The authority to make arrests under paragraph (5)(B) shall only be effective on and after the date on which the Attorney General publishes final regulations which
(i) prescribe the categories of officers and employees of the Service who may use force (including deadly force) and the circumstances under which such force may be used,
(ii) establish standards with respect to enforcement activities of the Service,
(iii) require that any officer or employee of the Service is not authorized to make arrests under paragraph (5)(B) unless the officer or employee has received certification as having completed a training program which covers such arrests and standards described in clause (ii), and (iv) establish an expedited, internal review process for violations of such standards, which process is consistent with standard agency procedure regarding confidentiality of matters related to internal investigations.
(b) Administration of oath; taking of evidence
Any officer or employee of the Service designated by the Attorney General, whether individually or as one of a class, shall have power and authority to administer oaths and to take and consider evidence concerning the privilege of any person to enter, reenter, pass through, or reside in the United States, or concerning any matter which is material or relevant to the enforcement of this chapter and the administration of the Service; and any person to whom such oath has been administered, (or who has executed an unsworn declaration, certificate, verification, or statement under penalty of perjury as permitted under section 1746 of title 28) under the provisions of this chapter, who shall knowingly or willfully give false evidence or swear (or subscribe under penalty of perjury as permitted under section 1746 of title 28) to any false statement concerning any matter referred to in this subsection shall be guilty of perjury and shall be punished as provided by section 1621 of title 18.
(c) Search without warrant
Any officer or employee of the Service authorized and designated under regulations prescribed by the Attorney General, whether individually or as one of a class, shall have power to conduct a search, without warrant, of the person, and of the personal effects in the possession of any person seeking admission to the United States, concerning whom such officer or employee may have reasonable cause to suspect that grounds exist for denial of admission to the United States under this chapter which would be disclosed by such search.
(d) Detainer of aliens for violation of controlled substances laws
In the case of an alien who is arrested by a Federal, State, or local law enforcement official for a violation of any law relating to controlled substances, if the official (or another official)—
(1) has reason to believe that the alien may not have been lawfully admitted to the United States or otherwise is not lawfully present in the United States,
(2) expeditiously informs an appropriate officer or employee of the Service authorized and designated by the Attorney General of the arrest and of facts concerning the status of the alien, and
(3) requests the Service to determine promptly whether or not to issue a detainer to detain the alien,
the officer or employee of the Service shall promptly determine whether or not to issue such a detainer. If such a detainer is issued and the alien is not otherwise detained by Federal, State, or local officials, the Attorney General shall effectively and expeditiously take custody of the alien.
(e) Restriction on warrantless entry in case of outdoor agricultural operations
Notwithstanding any other provision of this section other than paragraph (3) of subsection (a) of this section, an officer or employee of the Service may not enter without the consent of the owner (or agent thereof) or a properly executed warrant onto the premises of a farm or other outdoor agricultural operation for the purpose of interrogating a person believed to be an alien as to the person’s right to be or to remain in the United States.
(f) Fingerprinting and photographing of certain aliens
(1) Under regulations of the Attorney General, the Commissioner shall provide for the fingerprinting and photographing of each alien 14 years of age or older against whom a proceeding is commenced under section 1229a of this title.
(2) Such fingerprints and photographs shall be made available to Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies, upon request.
(g) Performance of immigration officer functions by State officers and employees
(1) Notwithstanding section 1342 of title 31, the Attorney General may enter into a written agreement with a State, or any political subdivision of a State, pursuant to which an officer or employee of the State or subdivision, who is determined by the Attorney General to be qualified to perform a function of an immigration officer in relation to the investigation, apprehension, or detention of aliens in the United States (including the transportation of such aliens across State lines to detention centers), may carry out such function at the expense of the State or political subdivision and to the extent consistent with State and local law.
(2) An agreement under this subsection shall require that an officer or employee of a State or political subdivision of a State performing a function under the agreement shall have knowledge of, and adhere to, Federal law relating to the function, and shall contain a written certification that the officers or employees performing the function under the agreement have received adequate training regarding the enforcement of relevant Federal immigration laws.
(3) In performing a function under this subsection, an officer or employee of a State or political subdivision of a State shall be subject to the direction and supervision of the Attorney General.
(4) In performing a function under this subsection, an officer or employee of a State or political subdivision of a State may use Federal property or facilities, as provided in a written agreement between the Attorney General and the State or subdivision.
(5) With respect to each officer or employee of a State or political subdivision who is authorized to perform a function under this subsection, the specific powers and duties that may be, or are required to be, exercised or performed by the individual, the duration of the authority of the individual, and the position of the agency of the Attorney General who is required to supervise and direct the individual, shall be set forth in a written agreement between the Attorney General and the State or political subdivision.
(6) The Attorney General may not accept a service under this subsection if the service will be used to displace any Federal employee.
(7) Except as provided in paragraph (8), an officer or employee of a State or political subdivision of a State performing functions under this subsection shall not be treated as a Federal employee for any purpose other than for purposes of chapter 81 of title 5 (relating to compensation for injury) and sections 2671 through 2680 of title 28 (relating to tort claims).
(8) An officer or employee of a State or political subdivision of a State acting under color of authority under this subsection, or any agreement entered into under this subsection, shall be considered to be acting under color of Federal authority for purposes of determining the liability, and immunity from suit, of the officer or employee in a civil action brought under Federal or State law.
(9) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to require any State or political subdivision of a State to enter into an agreement with the Attorney General under this subsection.
(10) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to require an agreement under this subsection in order for any officer or employee of a State or political subdivision of a State—
(A) to communicate with the Attorney General regarding the immigration status of any individual, including reporting knowledge that a particular alien is not lawfully present in the United States; or
(B) otherwise to cooperate with the Attorney General in the identification, apprehension, detention, or removal of aliens not lawfully present in the United States.
(h) Protecting abused juveniles
An alien described in section 1101 (a)(27)(J) of this title who has been battered, abused, neglected, or abandoned, shall not be compelled to contact the alleged abuser (or family member of the alleged abuser) at any stage of applying for special immigrant juvenile status, including after a request for the consent of the Secretary of Homeland Security under section 1101 (a)(27)(J)(iii)(I) of this title. HERE

Houston Chronicle
July 13, 2009

ICE program is casting a wide net

A little after 3 a.m. Dec. 12, Carlos Garcia-Hernandez was booked into Harris County Jail on an aggravated assault charge, accused of slicing a man’s nose down to the bone after a disagreement at a birthday party.

At the jail, the first in the country with full access to a Department of Homeland Security database that contains millions of immigration records, a Harris County detention officer ran Garcia-Hernandez’s fingerprints.

Within minutes the system found a hit. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents had deported Garcia-Hernandez in November 2007 after a string of convictions including marijuana possession and escaping from law enforcement custody, the system showed.

The DHS system also showed Garcia-Hernandez had two outstanding murder warrants in Mexico. “A year ago, we wouldn’t have gotten that,” said Lt. M. Lindsay, the point man for the Harris County Sheriff’s Office’s efforts to identify suspected illegal immigrants in the jails.

The database is part of an ICE program dubbed “Secure Communities,” which aims to identify and deport the most dangerous illegal immigrants in U.S. jails and prisons. Since Harris County started using the database in October, participation in the program has grown to 70 sites in the U.S., including 39 in Texas.

In the program’s first six months, more than 266,000 fingerprint submissions were run through the system nationally, generating more than 32,000 “matches” for suspects with both an immigration history and record of a prior conviction or charge. That includes 5,369 matches in Harris County. ..

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Gwinnett Daily Post

“Perhaps more startling is that of every 10 foreign-born inmates at the county jail, seven had entered this country illegally.”

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Gainesville Times

Immigration detention center ready for inmates

The new, old jail on Gainesville’s Main Street should be boarding its first guests since its makeover any day now. — Officials with the Corrections Corp. of America were purposely vague on when exactly the recently-renamed North Georgia Detention Center would begin taking in federal immigration detainees, citing security concerns…

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Victory in Georgia. Largest Georgia county to date will use 287 (g) authority. Open borders lobby irate

Dustin Inman Society enforcement project continues

More than two years ago, the Dustin Inman Society announced that one of our primary goals and efforts would be doing all we can to gain implementation of the federal 287 (g) program in as many Georgia counties as possible.

Including rallies, private meetings, writing newspaper columns and letters, and addressing County Commissions, we have worked long and hard to educate the media, the public and elected officials on the concept and benefits of using federally trained local law enforcement to help multiply the effect of the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

We have proven that Americans who are willing to engage and get involved can make a difference their own communities.

Our message was – and is – quite simple: In the fight against the organized crime of illegal immigration, enforcement works.

On Friday, July 10, 2009, Gwinnett County Sheriff Butch Conway and the United States Department of Homeland Security announced approval of 287 (g) use in Gwinnett. The Memorandum of Understanding between Sheriff Conway’s office and DHS will be singed very soon.

We congratulate Sheriff Conway and express our deepest gratitude for the efforts of everyone involved in the process of 287 (g) implementation in Gwinnett. A county that suffers one of the largest populations of illegal aliens in Georgia. It is the largest Georgia county to receive 287 (g) authority.

As a group of Americans of all descriptions pursuing the full and equal application of American immigration law, we could not be more proud of our role in encouraging the expansion of immigration enforcement in Gwinnett.

Other Georgia counties using 287 (g) authority to protect and serve Americans and the rule of law are Cobb, Hall and Whitfield. There are several more with pending applications.

Without any surprise, we note the relentless, race-baiting and well-funded opposition to use of the 1996 federal law allowing 287 (g) enforcement from far left fringe groups such as the Georgia Association of Elected Officials (GALEO), the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) and the ACLU organized Georgia Detention Watch.

The hateful anti-enforcement activities of these subversive groups constantly serves to assure us that 287 (g) is a super effective tool to remove illegals charged with additional crimes and a deterrent to other illegals remaining in communities where it is used.

Earlier this year Federal immigration officials flagged for deportation 915 foreign-born inmates at the Gwinnett County jail in just 26 days.

Of the inmates identified as being in the country illegally, 489 had a previous criminal history.

Those in opposition to use of 287 (g) endlessly claim that this enforcement effort is somehow making the community ‘less safe”. Like the huge majority of Americans, we disagree.

Below is a partial list of the charges against some of the illegal aliens captured in the 26 day Gwinnett operation in January: Inmates flagged for deportation were charged with the following offenses:

Murder 13
Armed robbery 28
Kidnapping 11
Felony drug offense 154
DUI 48
No driver’s license 226
Other felony 45
Misdemeanor probation violation 55
Felony probation violation 42
Rape 15
Child molestation 23
Aggravated assault 38
Family violence battery 12
Misdemeanor theft 30
Burglary 17
Hit and run 6
Homicide by vehicle 1

Source: Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Department as reported in the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
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We also note that no one is deported for “minor crimes”. The sole reason for deportation is violation of American immigration laws.

The mindless race-baiting argument against use of the 287 (g) tool is brilliantly outlined on a recent local TV news VIDEO report on Gwinnett’s success by Tracy Blagec, a local anti-enforcement radical. VIDEO HERE

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE TV STATION IS ASKING FOR COMMENTS. If you have a short polite comment please send it to news@cbsAtlanta.com .

We do not agree that illegal aliens are “average, everyday people.”

The Dustin Inman Society will now adjust our focus to other Georgia counties to do what we can to implement the 1996 287 (g) program. Stay tuned.

All help welcomed.

D.A. King, president
The Dustin Inman Society
Marietta, Georgia.

Gwinnett Daily Post
Editorial
July 12, 2009

Our view: 287(g) arrival expected to put criminals on ICE

On Friday, Gwinnett County received news that gives a super, turbo-charged boost to the race against gangs, drugs and the criminal element.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and its Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency announced it had entered into a 287(g) agreement with the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Department.

Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act trains and authorizes local officers to investigate, detain and arrest illegal immigrants on civil and criminal grounds. Gwinnett Sheriff Butch Conway has been diligent in his efforts to bring the program to his department. He enlisted the aid of Georgia senators Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson. Their efforts have finally paid off.

287(g) gives local officers the power and the tools to move illegal aliens toward deportation. It also grants access to the ICE database – an essential tool in identifying illegal aliens.

An ICE census of our county jail conducted in January showed 914 illegal immigrants were housed there. Perhaps more startling is that of every 10 foreign-born inmates at the county jail, seven had entered this country illegally.

For Gwinnett County, acceptance into the program means that anyone brought into custody by the Sheriff’s Department or brought to the jail is subject to an immigration check. If the person in custody is here illegally, officers have the right to detain that person and turn them over to ICE officials for possible deportation.

Foreign drug cartels have quietly invaded this area. Our interstate highways and suburban setting are a perfect combination for clandestine activities that need easy access to efficient supply lines. Gwinnett County fits the description.

Consider:

• Last July, an alleged drug dealer was found severely dehydrated and badly beaten after being chained and gagged for six days in the basement of a Lilburn home.

• Four days earlier, Gwinnett police SWAT officers shot and killed a suspect in the parking lot of a Waffle House in another drug-related kidnapping.

• In September, police raided a Lawrenceville home belonging to an alleged leader of the brutal Gulf cartel – a group known for torture, murder and beheadings in Mexico.

• A recent police campaign unearthed 17 “grow houses” where drugs are grown or manufactured in the basements of homes nestled quietly amid Gwinnett subdivisions.

Sheriff Conway welcomes the opportunity to add 287(g) to his department’s arsenal against crime. “There’s a tremendous problem with illegal aliens being arrested in Gwinnett. And then when they’re arrested, they don’t show up for court … They take up a tremendous amount of our resources and it hurts the county’s quality of life tremendously.”

The community owes its thanks to those who worked to bring us 287(g). Ours is one of only 77 national 287(g) agreements signed with ICE.

The program isn’t a magic wand that will make the criminal element disappear. But it gives the sheriff and his deputies and staff at the county jail a much-needed weapon in their fight against crime.

The unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of the Gwinnett Daily Post. Columns, letters to the editor and cartoons reflect the opinions of the individuals who penned them. It is the policy of the Gwinnett Daily Post to correct all errors of fact. Corrections usually run on Page 4A.

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The illegal alien population will begin to decline in Gwinnett

Gwinnett Daily Post
12 July 2009

ICE enters deal with Gwinnett sheriff

Sheriff’s Department can now check immigration status of anyone in custody

By Jamie Ward
Staff Writer

LAWRENCEVILLE – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and its Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency announced Friday that it had entered into a 287(g) agreement with the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Department and 10 other law enforcement agencies nationwide.

That makes 77 national 287(g) agreements signed with ICE.

For Gwinnett County, it means that anybody brought into custody by the Sheriff’s Department or brought to the jail is subject to an immigration check by officers to see if they are in the country legally. If it’s determined that a person in custody is here illegally, then officers have the right to detain that person and have them turned over to ICE officials for possible deportation.

The federal announcement was welcomed by Sheriff Butch Conway, whose department participated in a trial 287(g) program in 2008.

“I’m very pleased with this because I’ve been doing lots of squeaking the last few months,” Conway said. “I’ve been working very closely with Sen. (Saxby) Chambliss and Sen. (Johnny) Isakson to try and get this done.”

“There’s a tremendous problem with illegal aliens being arrested in Gwinnett,” Conway said. “And then when they’re arrested, they don’t show up for court … They take up a tremendous amount of our resources and it hurts the county’s quality of life tremendously.”

Conway said he’d be receiving, signing and returning a copy of the agreement next week from ICE and that it would probably take two to three months to implement the program. He also said that funding for the program was already approved in last year’s budget and was to “carry over” this year.

In December, the group Atlantans Building Leadership for Empowerment opposed 287(g) by delivering 1,000 signed Nativity cards, a decorated Christmas tree and a gift to Conway.

A call to the group’s Tracy Blagec was not returned before press time.

In other 287(g) news, Janet Napolitano, the secretary of Homeland Security, said that ICE had standardized the agreement it uses to enter into 287(g) partnerships with law enforcement agencies like Gwinnett’s.

Napolitano said the new agreement supports local efforts to protect public safety by giving law enforcement the tools to identify and remove dangerous criminal aliens.

“It also promotes consistency across the board to ensure that all our state and local law enforcement partners are using the same standards in implementing the 287(g) program,” Napolitano said in a news release.

One key component to the new agreement is meant to address concerns that individuals could be arrested for minor offenses in order to initiate removal proceedings.

To address this, the agreement states that participating local law enforcement agencies are required to pursue all criminal charges that originally caused the offender to be taken into custody.

“The new agreement strengthens ICE’s oversight of the program and allows us to better utilize the resources and capabilities of our law enforcement partners across the nation,” said ICE Assistant Secretary John Morton.

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More HERE ( you can hear Sam Zamarippa tell the Georgia Senate about there being 20 million illegal in our nation – in 2003)

Athens Banner Herald
July 10, 2009
Opinion page

Letters

The illegal immigration crisis, now being all but ignored by the media in hopeful preparation for the Obama amnesty scheme, took more than 30 years to develop. It cannot and will not be solved overnight or with the stroke of a pen.

The amnesty-again crowd urges that it would be difficult to deport approximately 20 million illegal aliens in a short period; therefore, its only solution is legalization and citizenship.

We tried legalization in 1986. Amnesty was granted to approximately 3 million illegal aliens. Today, we have approximately 20 million. Amnesty does not stop illegal immigration.

Rewarding criminals with exactly what they broke the law to obtain is not a workable or sensible method of stopping the crime of illegal immigration.

The reasonable choice is to work toward the gradual but steady attrition of the illegal population through enforcement of the laws already in place. It is enforcement of our laws that stops and deters crime, including illegal immigration. Having tried rewarding illegals with a path to citizenship in 1986, it is past time to try strict and fair enforcement of existing laws.

By objecting to any and all enforcement of the law, the open-borders lobby shows us what works at stopping illegal immigration. Enforcement works.

In a 2007 Associated Press report on a then-new Arizona law aimed at employers who hire illegal immigrants, one illegal alien said, “I don’t want to live here because of the new law and the oppressive environment, I’ll be better in my country.”

Local law enforcement’s use of tools such as the federal program that locates illegal aliens who’ve landed in Georgia jails for crimes in addition to illegal immigration works.

Another legalization and a path-to-citizenship program would be sending a message all over the world that to become an American citizen, all one needs to do is break into the United States and wait for the next amnesty.

Inger Eberhart – Acworth

• Inger Eberhart is a member of the board of advisors of the Dustin Inman Society, which advocates for secure borders and the enforcement of American immigration laws.

Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Friday, July 10, 2009

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