Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) must now provide a judicial warrant for anyone the agency wants held in the Broome County jail.
The Broome County Sheriff’s Office made the policy change about two months ago but it only became public recently.
A judicial warrant is one that is signed by a state or federal judge or magistrate. It means those seeking the warrant have given the judge enough evidence to show there is “probable cause” that the person they are seeking to arrest committed a crime.
The requirement of “probable cause” for the government to detain someone, search or seize property is a part of the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution.
The amendment states: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
The amendment applies to anyone in the United States, not just citizens.
The sheriff’s office said the change is because of state legislation being considered in Albany.
Those bills would ban local law enforcement agencies from participating in ICE’s 287(g) programs, and require certain protections for anyone incarcerated for alleged immigration law violations.
The Broome County Sheriff’s Office has a 287(g) agreement that allows some corrections officers to issue immigration warrants to people already in the jail. Immigration warrants are not judicial warrants. They are signed by an immigration officer or immigration judge and issued by a customs or immigration agency.
The new jail policy will not change the sheriff’s 287(g) agreement.
