Multiple states have reportedly signed agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to expand the agency’s assistance with local law enforcement departments.
On Wednesday, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey plans to announce a wide-ranging agreement the state has forged with ICE, enlisting the West Virginia State Police, Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation and National Guard to aid immigration enforcement through the “287(g)” authority heralded by President Donald Trump.
West Virginia has long ranked among the states with the highest rates of drug-related deaths, a crisis that Morrisey says needs to work with ICE to combat fentanyl trafficking.
“Under the Biden administration, millions of people poured into our country unlawfully and we had no knowledge about who they were, or whether they were a threat to our nation,” Morrisey told Fox News.
The National Guard and state police will have “task force” authority to interrogate any person believed to be an illegal immigrant as to his right to remain in the U.S. – under the supervision or direction of the feds.
Officers will be able to process immigration-related violations for those arrested for state or federal offenses, and can also make warrantless arrests of any illegal immigrant in the officer’s “presence or view” if that person is believed to be a flight risk in the interim of obtaining a warrant.
Unlike some other states, West Virginia law enforcement will also be able to issue immigration detainers, prepare documents for approval from federal ICE officers and arrest felonious aliens
In Arkansas, a state law took effect this week that increases penalties for illegal immigrants committing “serious felonies involving violence,” among other stipulations. The “Defense Against Criminal Illegals Act,” signed by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, also allowed Arkansas sheriffs to engage with ICE.
A spokeswoman for the state police told the outlet that troopers must undergo training before any can work in an immigration-related capacity.
The regimen includes a 40-hour online course laying out officers’ “scope of authority, immigration law, civil rights law, cross-cultural issues, liability issues, complaint procedures and obligations under federal law,” the spokeswoman said.
Sanders credited Trump with making border security a top priority and obtaining results.
“The Defense Against Criminal Illegals Act makes it clear: Arkansas will not tolerate violent, criminal illegals and will do our part to help the Trump administration keep our citizens safe,” the former Trump press secretary said in a statement.
South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden also recently announced cooperation with ICE, however to a lesser extent, with his “Operation Prairie Thunder” public safety crackdown.
Rhoden announced earlier this month that Operation Prairie Thunder would be a “comprehensive, targeted public safety initiative” in the state – with a focus on the Sioux Falls metro area.
The anti-crime effort seeks to interdict drugs, probe gang activity and “deter lawlessness.”
It includes a “comprehensive effort to support the work of [ICE], secure our borders and deport illegal alien criminals,” according to a statement.
“Our work alongside ICE boils down to this: Highway Patrol will support ICE with arrests,” Rhoden said.
“The National Guard will support ICE with processing and administrative functions. And DOC will support ICE with transportation, identifying illegal immigrants in our prisons, and getting them paroled to ICE custody.”
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