"The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) owes another apology to a probable U.S. citizen, Julia Cerna, 42, whose due process rights and physical security ICE Assistant Chief Counsel Tracy Hamby jeopardized Wednesday, May 6, 2009 in a Houston immigration court."
Jacqueline Stevens, May 8, 2009.
WASHINGTON -- The Homeland Security Department has failed to ensure that local and state law enforcement partners pursue serious criminals and don't misuse their authority while enforcing immigration law, government investigators say.
Dozens of state and local agencies have partnered with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to carry out immigration laws, the domain of the federal government. But ICE, a Homeland Security agency, has not clearly explained that serious criminal offenders, such as drug smugglers, are the target, the Government Accountability Office said in a report obtained by The Associated Press.
The GAO also found that ICE is not properly supervising its local and state partners nor collecting data needed to assess the program, according to the report GAO was to release Wednesday.
I'll repeat - local police should not be charged with Federal responsibilities for which they have inadequate training and funding.
