Partnership with ICE a hot ticket for local law enforcement

by Erica L. Green
Nov 19, 2008

WASHINGTON—Local law enforcement agencies across the country are clamoring for the chance to join the federal government in fighting illegal immigration. Applications to partner with the immigration service have spiked and new technology has sparked more interest.

Thirty-four new police and sheriff departments signed on to participate in the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement 287 (g) program, a federal-local partnership that 67 other law enforcement departments have forged since 2003.

The program trains law enforcement officers to carry out functions of federal immigration officials in the course of their policing duties. This includes running information on those arrested for crimes through ICE federal databases, detaining illegal immigrants and beginning processes for deportation.

The 34 agencies that signed on to the program between October, 2007 and September, 2008, as well as the 40 pending requests, shows promise for cracking down on illegal immigration nationwide, ICE officials said Wednesday.

“This was a record year for the number of agencies signing,â€