Backgrounder April 2003 Officers Need Backup

In the midst of a war against Islamist terrorists, the United States remains woefully — and frighteningly — at risk. Even with the enactment of new laws such as the USA Patriot Act and the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act and the reorganization of major parts of the federal government into a cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security, the American homeland is not secure. Not only are the borders themselves still porous, frequently crossed by criminals, smugglers, terrorists, and other lawbreakers, but the interior has very little federal enforcement presence. The federal immigration service has just 2,000 investigators (the agents engaged in enforcement) out of its 37,000 employees. The Border Patrol is deployed almost exclusively along the border. And the Clinton administration's implicit policy of "we'll make it a little tougher for you to sneak across the border, but once inside our country, we won't touch you" remains in force. Therefore, while the borders get some attention, the country's interior is its exposed, soft underbelly. Untold hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens live, travel, and quietly undermine U.S. national and economic security within our borders every day. Among the rogues in the gallery of criminal illegal aliens are Ingmar Guandique, the suspected killer of Chandra Levy; Lee Malvo, the suspected Washington, D.C., sniper; four homeless Mexicans accused of brutally gang-raping a woman in New York last December; Rafael Resendez Ramirez, the serial "Railroad Killer;" and Mohammed Salameh, one of the 1993 World Trade Center conspirator/bombers. Other illegal aliens provide the infrastructure by which the worst ones go about undetected, like the Latin American illegal aliens who assisted some of the September 11 hijackers to exploit loopholes and fraudulently obtain driver's licenses. Yet, hundreds of thousands of law enforcement officers patrol every community, every mile of road, 24 hours every day. They know their area and can spot people, things, and behavior that are out of the ordinary. But when it comes to enforcing immigration laws, these lawmen largely remain an untapped human resource. This Backgrounder examines the role that state and local law enforcement plays — or does not play — in the enforcement of immigration laws, and its potential for enhancing homeland security. First, it considers the present level of involvement of local police officers in immigration enforcement. Second, the legal authority to enforce federal immigration law is discussed. Finally, a number of recommendations are offered concerning how to improve the part that state and local law enforcement plays in immigration enforcement, were this untapped resource to be made an effective component in homeland security.