The agreement gives certified troopers ‘delegated immigration officer functions’
By BOB MARTIN
Eagle Times Staff
The N.H. State Police has entered into a Memoranda of Agreement (MOA) with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), meaning that certified members will have the power to apprehend undocumented immigrants and, in some cases, bypass obtaining warrants. They will also have the authority to interrogate anyone they believe to be illegally in the U.S.
“The members of the New Hampshire State Police are committed to keeping our communities among the safest in the nation,” said Colonel Mark B. Hall. “Under this agreement, Troopers will be authorized and trained by ICE on how to better respond to immigration violations that they encounter. However, residents and visitors should be assured that our mission remains the same as it always has been.”
The State Police announced the MOA on April 30, but it has been in effect since Friday, April 25. This gives State Troopers the authority to perform “certain immigration enforcement functions” included in a Task Force Model. The Troopers will be trained and certified by ICE in the coming weeks and months.
“New Hampshire will not go the way of Massachusetts, where sanctuary policies have enabled violent crime and a billion-dollar illegal immigrant crisis,” said Gov. Kelly Ayotte in the April 30 statement by the state police. “Criminals who are in our country illegally and pose a danger to our communities should be apprehended and removed. I’m glad to have State Police and county and local law enforcement working with our federal partners to enforce our immigration laws, and I thank them for their continued efforts to protect and serve New Hampshire.”
When asked if Troop C, which represents Sullivan and Cheshire Counties, has candidates who will be trained, State Police Public Information Officer Tyler Dumont said, “We don’t have anything further to provide beyond yesterday’s release at this time.”
The 287 (g) Task Force Model states that it “serves as a force multiplier by allowing state and local law enforcement agencies to enforce limited immigration authority during routine police enforcement duties.” The model will all troopers to enforce immigration activities in “non-custodial settings,” all while under the umbrella of ICE.
According to the model, there are now 16 states with Task Force Models, 141 law enforcement agencies and 625 trained participants.
The 14-page MOA is posted on the N.H. State Police website. Here are highlights:
Training and Assignments
Personnel must undergo mandatory training on “relevant administrative, legal, and operational issues tailored to the immigration enforcement functions.” Training will be both in person and online, and in recorded or virtual meeting formats as determined by ICE. Only those nominated, trained, certified and authorized will have the authority to conduct “delegated immigration officer functions.”
The MOA also states that personnel who participate will be assigned “various units, teams, or task forces designated by ICE.”
Training of personnel “tailors to the immigration functions to be performed.” It will include the following:
-Discussion of terms and limitations of the MOA
-Scope of immigration officer authority
-Relevant immigration law
-ICE Use of Force Policy
-Civil rights laws
-Detention of aliens
-Public outreach and complaint procedures
-Liability issues
-Cross-culture issues
-Obligations under federal law, including applicable treaties or international agreements, to make proper notification upon the arrest or detention of a foreign national
There will be local training by ICE supervisors or a team leader, and additional training could come about a year after certification.
Designation of Authorized Functions
Troopers who are certified will be authorized to interrogate “any alien or person believed to be an alien as to his right to be or remain in the United States.” They will be able to process immigration violations for those arrested for state or federal crimes.
State Police will be authorized to arrest without a warrant “any alien entering or attempting to unlawfully enter the United States in the officer’s presence of view,” or any alien in the U.S. who committed a crime and is likely to escape before police can get a warrant.
They will also have the power to arrest without warrant for felonies “committed and which are cognizable under any law of the United States regulating admission, inclusion, expulsion, or removal of aliens,” if the trooper feels the person who allegedly committed the crime would escape before a warrant was obtained.
Certified troopers will have the power to serve and execute warrants of arrest for immigration violations. They will also have the power to administer oaths and take evidence like finger printing, photographing and interviewing. They will prepare affidavits and take sworn statements for ICE supervisors to review, as well.
Participants will also have the power to issue immigration detainers, take and maintain custody of “aliens” arrested on behalf of ICE, and take and maintain custody of those arrested pursuant to immigration laws and “transport such aliens to ICE-approved detention facilities.”
Nomination
Candidates will be nominated by the “chief officer of the LEA,” which in this case would be Col. Hall. They must be U.S. citizens with at least two years of law enforcement agency experience and must be approved by ICE. Candidates will also be subject to federal security clearances and access to Department of Homeland Security and ICE databases, systems and application.
Certification
ICE will provide certified Troopers with a signed authorization to perform the functions of an immigration officer for “an initial period of two years from the date of the authorization.
Costs and Expenditures
Those who participate will conduct the functions at the state police’s expense, which includes salaries and benefits, local transportation, and official issue material. ICE will be responsible for the costs of travel while being trained, which includes housing, per diem and transportation costs.
The State Police is expected to provide security equipment like handcuffs and leg restraints, and ICE is responsible for installing and maintaining Information Technology (IT) infrastructure.
ICE Supervision
The participants will be supervised and directed by ICE and will not be authorized to perform immigration officer functions except when working under ICE supervision or direction. When in the field, personnel need to contact an ICE supervisor when exercising MOA authority, “or as soon as practicable thereafter, for guidance.”
The MOA states that while personnel will have the authority to use ICE Use of Force Policy, when engaged they are not expected or required to “violate or otherwise fail to maintain LEA’s rules, standards, or policies, or be required to fail to abide by restrictions or limitations as may otherwise be imposed by law unless doing so would violate federal law.”
Liability and Responsibility
Participating troopers will be treated as federal employees for worker’s compensation claims, as well as for purposes of liability and immunity from suit under federal or state law.
