Reno, NV – Citing recent figures that Nevada ranked second in the nation concerning the rate of undocumented aliens flocking over the border, Assemblywoman Sharron Angle mailed a letter to the Sheriff’s & Chiefs Association urging full participation in a federal training program that authorizes local officers to detain the law-breakers. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement unit of Homeland Security (ICE) teaches the 3 ½ to 4 ½-week training program. Under this partnership arrangement, local officers from Nevada would be specially trained in certain immigration enforcement duties.

"The ICE partnership empowers a local officer to detain someone who has violated federal immigration law, something that a local officer is normally not allowed to do," said Angle, a coalition member of the Campaign to Rescue & Restore Victims of Human Trafficking. "This would be a helpful tool in Nevada where we lack the ICE agents necessary to perform the duties in a state becoming overwhelmed with lawbreakers from other countries entering Nevada illegally."

Angle emphasizes that the federal program has been popular in other jurisdictions around the country, including California. "Local agencies from other states are taking advantage of this training, and we need to take full advantage of it ourselves. As other states increase their ability to crack down on criminals, we know they will come to Nevada to conduct their illegal activities unless we do likewise. As it stands right now, a coyote (human smuggler) could be pulled over for speeding in Nevada and an officer would write a traffic ticket and send them on their way. By participating in ICE, that local traffic cop or State Trooper could charge a coyote with human smuggling, and the caught illegal aliens would be deported."

Such actions are normally the province of federal immigration agents explained Angle, but added that section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act makes for exceptions. "We need to empower our local officers with the ability to verify the immigration status of people stopped for traffic infractions or other violations. We can’t afford to wait for federal action to curtail the flow of illegal immigrants pouring into America. When a non-border state like ours ranks higher in illegal immigrant influx than border-lying states like Texas and California, we must take local matter into our own hands."

Giving local Law enforcement the authority to act is fiscally responsible, said Angle. "It’s more cost effective to apprehend and deport non-citizens for lesser crimes than to turn a blind eye and wait for them to commit more serious crimes in our state." According to figures released by the Pew Hispanic Center, there are more than 100,000 illegal aliens here in Nevada. "We don’t know who they are," said Angle, "and nobody can say with certainty what the intentions are for everyone of them who comes here illegally."