Mandated Local Leo Cooperation turns into arrest, detain, deport

The constitution reserves the power to decide matters of immigration to Congress, the judicial gloss is that is a plenary power of Congress (i.e. it’s a near absolute power), and courts have described Congress’s immigration powers as perhaps the most complete power they possess. There are judicial opinions noting that, if Congress wanted to deport literally every single non-citizen in the United States, they have the power to pass a law doing so.

Given that, what suggests that they don’t have the power to say deport any alien the Secretary of State makes this certification about?

 

I'm no lawyer, but it seems like if there is an imposed standard of "reasonable ground" that opens up any exercise of that power to judicial review.

 

What is the substantive reason a County Sheriff should not hold someone a day or two longer at the County Jail if they know he has an outstanding Federal warrant? Regardless if its a Federal warrant for fraudulently receiving government benefits, unlawful entry into the United States or any other charge - what is the substantive justification for the County Sheriff to not extend basic courtesy to fellow law enforcement?

 

Below is from the ICE website on Program 287(g). Looks like it covers local law enforcement participation on warrants, incarcerated persons and routine policing. I'm critical of modern policing, but it's ridiculous to assert that ICE trains local law enforcement to respond to a rape call by asking for papers.

ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations operates three 287(g) models:

• The Jail Enforcement Model is designed to identify and process removable aliens — with criminal or pending criminal charges — who are arrested by state or local law enforcement agencies.
• The Task Force Model serves as a force multiplier for law enforcement agencies to enforce limited immigration authority with ICE oversight during their routine police duties.
• The Warrant Service Officer program allows ICE to train, certify and authorize state and local law enforcement officers to serve and execute administrative warrants on aliens in their agency’s jail.

 

Immigration is really complicated, but that’s under a different law and not really relevant to the question he responded to.

Under the provision we had been discussing, what makes the alien removable is the Secretary of State’s certification that their presence harms the foreign policy interests of the United States.

As I acknowledged, they can get an immigration court appearance. And presumably they can file a habeas petition as well. But the only real legally relevant consideration for either of those two courts is “did the Secretary of State make the required certification.” Nothing about what you posted suggests that any court can or should second guess the Secretary of State’s reasoning.

 

Uh, this Zapata guy was in the US illegally:
Zapata-Velásquez entered the U.S. on an F-1 student visa on Feb. 12, 2023, to attend Santa Fe College, a small public college in Gainesville, according to ICE. But on October 3, 2024, after failing to enroll, his student status was terminated on SEVIS, the portal that tracks students’ immigration compliance.

But the best part is the guy was on a suspended license and using stolen plates:

Zapata-Velásquez was arrested in Gainesville on March 28 for driving with a suspended license and for driving a car with a license plate not assigned to that vehicle, according to court records.

Read the article. This 27 year old entered the US on a student Visa, never enrolled at Santa Fe (he was not a UF student as inaccurately reported) and was cruising around Gainesville in an RV with no registration, on a suspended driver's license and using stolen plates. Once they picked this guy up he self-deported for obvious reasons. Make the argument that GPD did not improve the Gainesville community and the United States as a whole by their efforts playing a role in the deportation of this 27 year old "student."

Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/education/article303879906.html#storylink=cpy

 

I think it’s very clear this guy should ultimately be deported, that’s pretty automatic when they are on a “student visa” and don’t enroll in school. A lot of weird in that story, a 27 year old on a “student visa” looking to enroll at Santa Fe (a… community college???). That’s already questionable, although if he’d just enrolled in school then whatever. But he didn’t. I think the stolen plate thing pushed it over to top to where not just the deportation order is appropriate, I’d say detention is fully justified. Not a controversial one imo. This guy didn’t follow his visa requirement AND was a criminal. Deportation 101. Very different from the ones where they are holding real students (in a few cases for the “crime” of writing an op-ed).

 

I missed the case where ICE is holding a student solely for writing an op-ed. If you have a link I would like to take a look.

 

Federal judge orders Tufts student detained by ICE to be brought to Vermont
Ozturk was one of four students who wrote an op-ed in the campus newspaper, The Tufts Daily, last year criticizing the university's response to student activists demanding that Tufts "acknowledge the Palestinian genocide," disclose its investments and divest from companies with ties to Israel. Tufts University President Sunil Kumar said the opinion piece was not in violation of any Tufts policies and no complaints were made about it.

Although the official pretext was that she was undermining US foreign policy the real reason that she is being held and may be deported was the op-ed.

 

The article says the op-ed was published last year. If that is all they have on her its weird they would wait so long to detain her don't you think? But the article also references this Mahmoud guy that has also been detained. According to the article Marco Rubio said Khalil's presence in the country undermines "U.S. policy to combat anti-Semitism around the world and in the United States, in addition to efforts to protect Jewish students from harassment and violence in the United States." Maybe the government is applying the same standard to her?

Judge allows government to continue effort to deport Mahmoud Khalil