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Office ojSlale and Local Coordinlllion

U.S. Departmenl or Homeland Security


500 12110 Street, SW
Washington, DC 20536

u.s. Immigration
and Customs
Enforcement
Mr. Arthur L. Hunsaker
Policy Analyst
Immigration Committee
State of Utah Legislature
OCT :I 0 ZOOS
Dear Mr. Hunsaker:

Thank you for your letter to Julie L. Myers, Assistant Secretary for Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) on behalf of the Utah Legislature's Immi gration Committee expressing
interest in ICE programs and a request for an TCE presentation.

As the largest investigative branch of DHS, ICE protects our national security and public safety
through strict enforcement of the nation's immigration and customs laws. ICE fulfills this
mission by identifying criminal activities and eliminating vulnerabi lities that pose a threat to our
nation's borders, as well as our economic stability. To that end, ICE conducts law enforcement
operations in accordance with statutory law and agency policy.

With regard to your previous request to meet with ICE representatives to further discuss this
issue, we would be happy to meet with the committee. However, so there can be a frank
discussion about law enforcement sensitive activities, this meeting must be closed to the media.

ICE recognizes that we share the responsibility of ensuring public safety with over 775,000 state
and local law enforcement officers. One way ICE addresses this joint goal is by building
partnerships with state and local law enforcement agencies (LEAs). To facilitate these
partnerships and work more closely with our state and local counterparts, ICE launched the
compn;hensive Agreements of Cooperation in Communities to Enhance Safety and Security
(ACCESS) program in 2007. It is through strategic discussions and efforts such as these that
strong partnerships between state and local LEAs and ICE can be developed. Combining
Federal, state, and local resources has proven successful in safeguarding the public.

ICE ACCESS serves to provide state and 10caJ LEAs an opportunity to partner with ICE to
specifically combat the immigration and customs enforcement challenges of their communities.
To accomplish this, ICE ACCESS offers an umbrella of services and programs to assist local
LEAs with interior enforcement issues. The 287(g) Delegation of Authority program is a key
partnership that designates authority to local law enforcement officers to enforce federal
immigration laws. Other programs that fall within the purview of ICE ACCESS include: the
Customs Cross-Designation (Title 19), Document and Benefit Fraud Task Forces, the Law
Enforcement Support Center (LESC), Operation Community Shield, the Criminal Alien Program
(CAP), Fugitive Operations, and Rapid Repatriation. Please find enclosed a copy of the ICE
ACCESS Fact Sheet for more information.

As you are aware, ICE is dutifully committed to the enforcement of our nation ' s immigration
laws. Central to that commitment are our efforts in the area of worksite enforcement. In the last
three years, ICE has made significant changes to the way it enforces the nation' s immigration
laws. ICE aggressively pursues criminal charges for those employers who knowingly hire
undocumented foreign nationals and prudently uses worksite enforcement as one of several law
enforcement tools to clearly send a message to employers and undocumented workers.

www.ice.gov
With respect to immigration policy, ICE is first and foremost a law enforcement agency. We are
charged with the duty of enforcing the laws of our nation, as enacted by Congress. Although we
support the notion of comprehensive immigration reform, we understand that the process will be
long and laborious before an agreement can be made on how to resolve the issue. Therefore, we
will continue to enforce existing federal laws pursuant to our authorities.

ICE would encourage your committee to inform local business representatives of avai lable
government resources, such as E-Verify (a tool to verify the employment eligibility of
prospective workers), at venues such as town hall meetings. E-Verify is a free online system,
available to employers, which is operated jointly by the Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA). Participating employers have the ability to
check the work status of new hires online by comparing information from an employee's 1-9
'form to SSA and DHS databases. More than 69,000 employers are enrolled in the program, with
over 4 million queries run so far in fiscal year 2008.

Thank you again for your interest in ICE. Again r would like to express that fCE is availab le to
meet with your committee. Please reach out to the local ICE contacts, provided below, to
schedule a meeting at The log rents of contact for ICE ACCESS are: in the
Office o f ' (80 I) 524 : and in the Office of Detention and
Removal (80 I) 310l )(e)

Sincerely,

'VJv . ~
William F. Riley
Acting Executive Director
Office of State and Local Coordination

Enclosure
Office o/State alld Local Coordinatioll

U.S. Department of Ilomeland Security


500 12th Street. SlY
Washington, D.C. 20536

u.s. Immigration
and Customs
Enforcement

( ... 2 8 2009
Mark L. Shurtleff
Attorney General
State of Utah
Utah State Capitol
350 North State Street, Suite 230
P.O. Box 142320
Salt Lake City, Utah 84114

Dear Attorney General Shurtleff:

Thank you for your September 8, 2009, letter in which you indicate that the Utah State
Legislature has mandated your office to negotiate a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) as part
of the 287(g) delegation of authority program offered by U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE), within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

ICE cannot enter into an MOA with the State of Utah on behalf of all state and local law
enforcement agencies in the State of Utah. Each local law enforcement agency must submit an
individual request to ICE's Office of State and Local Coordination (OSLC). Once OSLC
receives the request to participate in the 287(g) delegation of authority program, a local ICE field
representative will provide a Needs Assessment Tool to the local law enforcement agency to
complete. The Needs Assessment allows OSLC to review and evaluate which services and
programs would best assist the local agency with its enforcement issues.

As you may know, ICE currently has 287(g) agreements with two agencies in Utah:
Washington County Sheriffs Office and Weber County Sheriffs Office. ICE recognizes we
have a shared public safety mission with local law enforcement agencies, and we look forward to
working with other local law enforcement agencies in your State to improve on this mission.

I hope you find this information useful. Thank you again for your letter and for your
interest in the 287(g) program.

Sincerely,

V~·~
William F. Riley
Acting Executive Direc

www.ice.goY

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