WASHINGTON — Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano has announced that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has standardized the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) used to enter into “287(g)” partnerships – improving public safety by removing criminal aliens who are a threat to local communities and providing uniform policies for partner state and local immigration enforcement efforts throughout the United States.

“This new agreement supports local efforts to protect public safety by giving law enforcement the tools to identify and remove dangerous criminal aliens,” Napolitano said. “It also promotes consistency across the board to ensure that all of our state and local law enforcement partners are using the same standards in implementing the 287(g) program.”

The new MOA aligns 287(g) local operations with major ICE enforcement priorities – specifically, the identification and removal of criminal aliens. To address concerns that individuals may be arrested
for minor offenses as a guise to initiate removal proceedings, the new agreement explains that participating local law-enforcement agencies are required to pursue all criminal charges that originally caused the offender to be taken into custody.

The new MOA also defines the objectives of the 287(g) program, outlines the immigration enforcement authorities granted by the agreement and provides guidelines for ICE’s supervision of
local agency officer operations, information reporting and tracking, complaint procedures and implementation measures.

“The 287(g) programis an essential component of DHS’ comprehensive immigration enforcement strategy,” said ICE Assistant Secretary John Morton. “The new agreement strengthens ICE’s oversight of the program and allows us to better utilize the resources and capabilities of our
law-enforcement partners across the nation.”