The Trump administration promised to publicly shame any city or county that did not cooperate with federal immigration authorities by detaining undocumented immigrants who have been arrested or charged with a crime, and the Department of Homeland Security made good on that promise Monday by publishing its first weekly list of local jails and jurisdictions that have not honored the so-called immigrant-detainer requests.
The “Declined Detainer Outcome Report” “is a weekly report that shows those jurisdictions with the highest volume of declined detainers, and includes a list of sample crimes associated with those released individuals.” According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the report is mandated by the president’s executive order “Enhancing the Public Safety in the Interior of the United States.”
A detainer requests that local law-enforcement agencies notify ICE within 48 hours before a “removable alien” is released from custody and asks that the law-enforcement agency, or LEA, hold the person for up to 48 additional hours in order to allow ICE to assume custody of the individual for “removable purposes.”
From the DHS website:
These requests are intended to allow a reasonable amount of time for ICE to respond and take custody of the alien. When LEAs fail to honor immigration detainers or requests for notification and release serious criminal offenders, it undermines ICE’s ability to protect public safety and carry out its mission. The Declined Detainer Outcome Report (DDOR), which meets the requirement outlined in the president’s Executive Order, Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States, is a weekly report that lists the LEAs that declined ICE detainers or requests for notification and includes criminal charges associated with those released aliens.
Monday’s report covers the period of time from Jan. 28 to Feb. 3.
The list does not name the 206 individuals it documents as having been arrested for “notable criminal activity,” most of whom are Mexican or Central American citizens accused of crimes ranging from drug possession to domestic violence, arson and assault.
The report also lists jurisdictions that have enacted policies that limit their cooperation with ICE, including New Orleans, Philadelphia, San Antonio, Miami, Denver and Boston.
ICE plans to update the report weekly, although the data will be from six weeks prior to “ensure data integrity.”
Read the full report here (pdf).