Key Takeaways
- A fatal ICE shooting in Minneapolis reignites debates over immigration enforcement and police use of force.
- Federal policy consistently limits deadly force to imminent threats, not merely to prevent escape.
- An expert asserts the Minneapolis ICE agent violated policy and committed an unjustified shooting.
- The 287G program, allowing local law enforcement to act as immigration agents, expanded since 2017.
- A 2024 local Pennsylvania sheriff's election, focused on ICE partnerships, foreshadowed this national debate.
Deep Dive
- Host Michael Smerconish broadcasted from Doylestown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, on Election Day 2024, describing it as the election's epicenter.
- He attended the swearing-in of Danny Seisler, a 33-year-old lawyer and Army veteran, as the new local sheriff.
- Smerconish initially advised Seisler against running for public office, but Seisler was determined to pursue public service.
- The 287G program, established in 1996, allows local law enforcement to assist in federal immigration enforcement.
- Discontinued by the Obama administration in 2012 due to racial profiling concerns, the Trump administration revived it in January 2017.
- Nationally, over 600 agreements have been signed, with 49 specific agreements in Pennsylvania.
- A 2013 Police Executive Research Forum report, commissioned by CBP, recommended prohibiting agents from shooting at vehicles unless occupants posed a deadly threat beyond the vehicle itself.
- The report, over a decade old, highlighted the need for better training in use-of-force policies, especially concerning shooting at moving vehicles and agents dealing with fleeing individuals.
- A March 7, 2014, document from the Chief of U.S. Border Patrol detailed over 6,000 assaults against Border Patrol agents since 2007, including 1,713 rock assaults since 2010, resulting in injuries and three agent deaths.
- A 2014 CBP memo outlines that deadly force is permissible only if an agent reasonably believes the subject poses an imminent danger of death or serious injury.
- The memo explicitly states agents should not discharge firearms at moving vehicles unless necessary to prevent harm, and not merely to prevent escape.
- A 2014 handbook from the Office of Training and Development and a May 2014 policy reiterate that deadly force is not authorized solely to prevent escape, unless that escape itself poses an imminent threat.
- A February 6, 2023, Department of Homeland Security edict, signed by Alejandro Mayorkas, states that all law enforcement use of force claims are analyzed under the Fourth Amendment's reasonableness standard.
- This policy reiterates that deadly force is only permissible when necessary to prevent an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury.
- Dr. Thomas Nolan, a former Boston police lieutenant and DHS advisor, affirmed that the host accurately presented the straightforward CBP and ICE policies on the use of deadly force.
- Dr. Thomas Nolan stated the ICE agent in the Minneapolis shooting failed to comply with policy, questioning the traffic stop's reason and the agent reaching into the vehicle, which is contrary to training.
- Nolan observed the woman appearing to drive away, not towards an officer, and believes the shooting was unnecessary as the officer was not in the line of danger, calling it a 'bad shoot'.
- He maintained the shooting was unjustified and arguably criminal, especially given the agent's weapon was unholstered without apparent immediate threat, citing ongoing FBI and Minnesota Department of Public Safety investigations.