U.S. Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and John Hoeven (R-ND) joined several of their Republican colleagues in urging the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) not to adopt a draft sanctuary policy it’s reportedly considering.
Citing an Aug. 17 Washington Times news story, the lawmakers say the USMS has drafted a policy that would require the release of detained illegal immigrants before U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has issued a detainer request asking the USMS to hold them, according to an Aug. 30 letter they sent to USMS Director Ronald Davis.
“For years, cities and states across the country have pursued sanctuary city policies where they will refuse to cooperate with ICE,” the senators wrote. “These sanctuary jurisdictions ignore ICE-issued detainer requests, and instead release potentially dangerous illegal immigrants into our communities.”
“We are deeply concerned to learn that the U.S. Marshals Service is even considering adopting a policy where it fails to cooperate with a fellow federal law enforcement entity,” according to their letter.
Sen. Tillis, who led the letter, was joined by 11 of his GOP colleagues in signing it, including Sen. Hoeven and U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Steve Daines (R-MT), who pointed out that the partnership between USMS and ICE is critical to ensuring that criminal aliens are detained and deported.
“Preventing USMS from communicating with ICE would be a dereliction of federal immigration enforcement, and we strongly discourage you from proceeding with this proposed policy,” they wrote.
The senators also cited a July 25 Fox News report saying that more than 500,000 illegal immigrants have evaded capture so far in fiscal year (FY) 2022, and noted that “serious concerns” also exist about the number of illegal immigrants with criminal records, gang affiliations, or terrorist records.
For instance, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reports that as of Aug. 17, it has apprehended over 9,300 criminal aliens charged with homicide or manslaughter, sex crimes, assault, battery, and domestic violence.
“These potentially dangerous, criminal aliens pose a significant risk to public safety, especially in states and communities that have adopted sanctuary policies,” wrote the lawmakers. “Sanctuary policies pose a serious threat to our communities and to our country.”
The senators requested that Davis provide answers to several questions by Sept. 27, including what specific changes to USMS policy are being considered regarding ICE detainer requests and if he is, in fact, contemplating a policy by which USMS would end cooperation with ICE and embrace sanctuary policies, among others.