Many Rio Grande Valley law enforcement officers cringe when someone talks about working with the federal government to identify and arrest illegal immigrants.
But when U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano brought up the idea during an Aug. 11 speech in El Paso, some Valley peace officers listened.
The law in question, Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996. Sixty-three local law enforcement agencies throughout the country partner with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to designate officers who can enforce federal immigration laws.
Agencies can allocate officers to work on a task force that focuses on immigration law enforcement or assign jail officers who focus on identifying illegal immigrants already in jail.
“I am considering being a part of it — only on the detention side,” Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Treviño said. “I would never do the enforcement. I won’t even help.”
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