KLLF Represents Local Law Enforcement Leaders Seeking Review of Federal Mandate to Cooperate with ICE
KLLF filed a “friend of the court” brief on behalf of local law enforcement leaders in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, urging the full court to rehear an appeal concerning the Trump Administration’s withholding of federal funds from local law enforcement agencies that do not agree to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”).
The case, New York v. U.S. Department of Justice, concerns the Trump Administration’s requirement that state and local governments must agree to turn over undocumented immigrants to ICE in order to receive federal Justice Assistance Grants (or “JAG” funding). Contrary to the decisions of several other federal courts of appeals, a three-judge panel of the Second Circuit decided that this requirement was within the Department of Justice’s statutory power and did not violate the Constitution. The Plaintiffs, led by the State of New York, are asking the full (or “en banc”) Second Circuit to rehear the case, conclude that the requirement is unlawful, and block it from taking effect.
KLLF’s brief on behalf of local law enforcement leaders in support of rehearing en banc argues that allowing the ICE cooperation requirement to stand would dramatically expand federal control over local law enforcement. That is particularly true because it would allow the federal government to use federal money to control even those programs that do not receive federal money. A state or locality might receive JAG money only to fund drug-treatment programs or a public defender’s office, which would be jeopardized if police, sheriffs, or district attorneys did not comply with an unrelated requirement. The brief also argues that the mandate to cooperate with ICE imposes a significant burden on state and local law enforcement officers.
The local law enforcement leaders represented by KLLF are: Albany County (NY) District Attorney P. David Soares, the Philadelphia (PA) Office of the District Attorney, former San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon, Berkshire County (MA) District Attorney Andrea Harrington, Ingham County (MI) Prosecuting Attorney Carol Siemon, Northwest District (MA) District Attorney David E. Sullivan, Washtenaw County (MI) Sheriff Jerry L. Clayton, Boulder County (CO) Sheriff Joseph K. Pelle, and Retired Albany (NY) Police Chief Brendan Cox.