[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 77 (Thursday, May 4, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2775-S2776]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. FLAKE (for himself and Mr. McCain):
  S. 1039. A bill to indemnify local law enforcement entities for 
complying

[[Page S2776]]

with valid detainers issued by immigration officers; to the Committee 
on the Judiciary.
  Mr. FLAKE. Mr. President, immigration enforcement is one of the 
Federal Government's most essential responsibilities. It is also one of 
the most debated and rightly so. Those of us in this body need to 
ensure that Federal immigration laws secure our borders from criminal 
and terrorist threats and facilitate effective interior enforcement to 
keep citizens safe.
  At the same time, our laws must promote a system of legal immigration 
that encourages economic growth and opportunity, especially in border 
communities like those in my home State of Arizona, but while we debate 
these policies on the Senate floor, local police officers and sheriffs 
around the country are serving on the frontlines of immigration 
enforcement. These men and women put their lives on the line every time 
they go out on patrol. For them, immigration policy is not a 
hypothetical exercise, it is part of the day in and day out reality of 
serving in law enforcement. Throughout the country, local officers 
increasingly find themselves coming in contact with individuals who, 
after being apprehended for the commission of a crime, are determined 
to be in the country illegally. This is especially common in border 
States like Arizona.
  Once it is determined an individual in their custody is in the 
country illegally, that information is relayed to Immigration and 
Customs Enforcement or ICE. ICE can then send a request to local 
officials with instructions to hold that individual for up to 48 hours 
so they can be transferred to Federal custody. This is called a 
detainer request. The partnership between law enforcement authorities 
at all levels of government leverages vital information and resources 
in order to keep dangerous criminals off the streets. The Federal 
Government has no better partners in this effort than State and local 
law enforcement agencies from Arizona.
  Despite the critical role these entities play in assisting their 
Federal partners with immigration enforcement, current Federal policy 
leaves them exposed with the threat of costly litigation. That is 
because third-party groups that oppose detention have threatened local 
agencies that choose to comply with valid detainer requests. They are 
threatened with lawsuits. Using punitive legal action to punish law 
enforcement for good-faith efforts to keep people safe is simply wrong.
  We can have this policy debate without jeopardizing public safety and 
the ability of local law enforcement officers to do their job. That is 
why I am introducing the Support Local Law Enforcement Detainer 
Indemnity Act. This bill will require the Department of Homeland 
Security to protect State and local law enforcement entities from 
lawsuits that uphold valid detainer requests from ICE. This is called 
indemnification. It would allow officers to fulfill their law 
enforcement responsibilities without second-guessing whether to keep 
potentially dangerous criminal aliens in custody.
  Reforming our Nation's immigration policies is no easy task, let me 
tell you. It is slow, frustrating work in the Senate, but as we 
continue the debate, local law enforcement shouldn't be left to 
shoulder the burden as a result of Washington's failure to secure our 
borders and implement a workable enforcement policy.
  I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense legislation that 
will give State and local law enforcement the certainty of knowing the 
Federal Government has their back.
  I also thank local sheriffs across the State of Arizona who are 
really shouldering this burden and who came to me with this issue. They 
want to keep their community safe. They want to do what is right. It 
pains them to have to release someone they know is dangerous, but they 
can't expose themselves and their counties to the litigation that would 
come if something like this legislation is not put in place. So this is 
a response to a very real problem out there.
  I thank those like Sheriff Dannels, Cochise County, and Sheriff 
Mascher, Yavapai County, Sheriff Clark of Navajo County, Sheriff Wilmot 
of Yuma County, and many others who have been working on this issue, 
work on the frontlines, and do a lot of work that we are very 
appreciative of in Arizona.

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