Independent Maine Sen. Angus King, alongside six of his colleagues, has introduced a bill that would allow U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to obtain a warrant to hold illegal immigrants charged or convicted of a violent crime in custody, even within jurisdictions that do not honor ICE detainers — so-called ‘sanctuary’ jurisdictions.
[RELATED: From Texas to Maine, Biden’s Lawless Border Fuels Illegal Alien Crime Wave…]
Under current law, immigration detainers are lodged by ICE against individuals who have been arrested on criminal charges in the U.S., and who ICE has probable cause to believe are removable non-citizens.
However, due to ICE detainers not being authorized by a judge and not subject to probable cause requirements, courts in sanctuary cities or states often do not honor the detainers.
The result is that illegal aliens who are unlawfully present in the U.S. and are suspected of committing crimes within the U.S. or in another country are released be back into the community. Often times, ICE will place detainers when it discovers that a subject present in the U.S. illegally is wanted on criminal charges in another country.
Cumberland County in Maine is a ‘sanctuary’ county, with Sheriff Kevin Joyce saying in 2020 that he has not honored ICE detainer requests since 2017 due to those requests failing to provide probable cause.
The “Improving Public Safety Through Immigration Warrant Issuance Act,” sponsored by Sen. King, his fellow independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) and five Democrats, would provide ICE the ability to hold an illegal immigrant if they are present in a jurisdiction that does not comply with ICE detainer requests.
The proposed bill would allow ICE to obtain a warrant from a magistrate judge to hold a criminal alien in state or local custody until ICE can assume physical custody — provided they show probable cause, meeting the same standard to obtain typical criminal warrants.
Under the proposed bill, judges would be able to issue a warrant to seize an alien located within a given jurisdiction in cases when there is probable cause to believe the alien is unlawfully present and removable, has been charged with or convicted of a felony or crime that involves endangering the safety or welfare of children, or is believed to be a threat to national security.
If a jurisdiction is planning to release an alien held in their custody under the above criteria, the proposed bill would require that jurisdiction to notify the federal government.
“We have a solemn obligation to keep our communities safe, and all criminals off our streets,” said Sen. King Friday. “The Improving Public Safety Through Immigration Warrant Issuance Act is a common sense step forward that will work to improve coordination between local, state, and federal authorities regarding undocumented people who have been charged with or convicted of violent crimes.
This legislation reinforces our commitment to public safety while we work toward a bipartisan solution to our nation’s insufficient immigration policies,” King added
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="26834 https://www.themainewire.com/?p=26834">4 Comments
Angus suffers a rare moment of lucidity? Nah, he’s just up for reelection.
We need a law.to.enforce a law?.Hey Angus now about a law making sanctuary cities illegal, and enforcing that? Must be an election coming up since Angus is pretending to actually care. Now we will hear about all the earmarks he will be bringing to Maine to buy votes. 1trillion dollars borrowed every 100 days, thanks Angus
What is a sanctuary city Angus? I bet Dr. Demi Kouzounas could tell you. Get rid of the carpetbagging liberal Angus this fall. https://www.demiforsenate.com/
Even a broken clock is right twice a day.
This is because even Democrat voters are noticing illegals and the problems that come with them.
The text of the bill isn’t here so
I wonder if the bill excludes those with fake asylum claims.