U.S. Conference of Mayors CEO and Executive Director Tom Cochran issued the following statement on the Report from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Declined Detainers:

“The U.S. Conference of Mayors has serious concerns with the Declined Detainer Outcome Report ICE released today.

“It lists jurisdictions as non-compliant that are currently complying with federal law, the City of New Orleans among them.

“It ignores the Constitutional requirement under the 4th Amendment that there be a warrant for a jurisdiction to hold someone who would otherwise be released.

“It ignores due process in the more than half of the cases cited in which the individual has been charged with – but not convicted of – a crime.

“ICE states that by not cooperating with ICE detainers or requests for notification, jurisdictions are ‘potentially endangering Americans.’  This promotes the false narrative that immigrants are criminals when studies have shown that the incidence of criminality is less among immigrants than among the native-born population, and recent research has shown that communities with so-called “sanctuary” policies are safer than those without them.

“We look forward to working with ICE and the Department of Homeland Security to address these concerns.”