Communities less SAFE after DHS Terminates Agreements
By Robert Law on February 5, 2021
In the closing days of the Trump administration, acting deputy secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) Ken Cuccinelli executed a Sanctuary for Americans First Enactment Agreement (SAFE) with approximately nine state and local jurisdictions, including Texas, Arizona, Louisiana, Indiana, and Rockingham County, N.C. As the name suggests, the purpose of these agreements is to make clear that DHS will "prioritize the protection of the United States" by vigorously enforcing immigration laws, including arresting and detaining removable aliens.
In exchange for these state and local jurisdictions pledging to help enforce federal immigration laws (as all jurisdictions should be doing anyway), these "binding and enforceable" agreements committed DHS to consult with these jurisdictions "and consider its views before taking any action, adopting or modifying a policy or procedure, or making any decision" that would loosen immigration enforcement or suspend removals of aliens, reduce the number of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in the jurisdiction, or increase and expand immigration benefits." Under SAFE, these jurisdictions are entitled to 180 days to review any "proposed action and [have] an opportunity to consult and comment on the proposed action, before [DHS takes] any such action" that loosens the enforcement of U.S. immigration law.
https://cis.org/Law/Communities-less-SAFE-after-DHS-Terminates-Agreements
