Bowing to pressure earlier this month, The U.S. Department of Justice released a 2002 legal memorandum revealing the department’s official position on state and local enforcement of federal immigration law. To the chagrin of many, the memo’s author, then Assistant Attorney General, Jay S. Bybee, says state and local police possess the inherent right to enforce civil violations of federal immigration law. The Assistant A.G.’s memo concludes it is “unreasonable” to assume Congress intended to deprive the federal government of “whatever assistance States may provide” in identifying and detaining individuals who have violated federal immigration laws.
In other words, the Department of Justice believes state and local police are entitled to act when they believe federal immigration laws are being violated.
Ripples from the electrically charged memorandum are being seen throughout the country, as states like New Jersey begin ordering local law enforcement to help U.S. immigration agents get a handle on that state’s illegal immigration problem.
The contents of the legal memorandum are fully in-line with the views of FAIR’s Legal Department—it is not only a right, but a duty of local police to arrest immigration law violators. Contact FAIR’s Legal Department for more information.
10/05
