WASHINGTON – The director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Thomas Homan, announced the agency has been given the go ahead to hire 10,000 new agents to crack down on sanctuary cities.
Since the inauguration of President Donald Trump, several cities across the country have declared themselves sanctuary cities, or put in place ordinances that restrict cooperation between local law enforcement and federal authorities.
For instance, the Minneapolis police department has a ‘separation ordinance’ in place which states, “Public safety officials shall not undertake any law enforcement action for the purpose of detecting the presence of undocumented persons, or to verify immigration status, including but not limited to questioning any person or persons about their immigration status.”
However, the ‘separation ordinance’ has been in place since 2003, so it was not in response to the election of Trump.
Under the Trump administration illegal border crossings are down 70 percent while immigration related arrests are up by 40 percent. An April press release shows that there has been a significant amount of arrests of Central American gang members, including numerous arrests of MS-13 gang members. Furthermore, the amount of those detained in local jails has vastly increased by 80 percent. The hiring of the 10,000 new agents is in part a response to this growing number of detainments in local jails.
However, some restrictions do apply to the keeping these people detained, especially if no warrant or judicial order is given to the local police department from ICE.
Hennepin County Sheriff, Richard Stanek, stated in a press conference on March 30, “If ICE wishes a person remain in custody beyond the time he or she is scheduled for release, they must get a court order or they must pick that person up at the time of his or her release from the jail.”
In an interview with the Washington Examiner, Homan said, “In the America I grew up in, cities didn’t shield people who violated the law.”
