Goodlatte & Gowdy Demand Answers on DOJ's Efforts to Coerce New Orleans to Adopt Sanctuary Policies
May 19, 2016
Washington, D.C. – House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Immigration and Border Security Subcommittee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) have pressed Attorney General Loretta Lynch on the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) efforts to make New Orleans a sanctuary city.
In 2010, the mayor of the City of New Orleans requested DOJ to “reform” the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD). In 2011, officials at DOJ’s Civil Division threatened NOPD with a civil rights lawsuit, which led to a consent decree in 2012. As part of the consent decree, NOPD officers were prevented from considering an individual’s immigration status when performing their law enforcement duties. In February 2016, NOPD enacted written policies pursuant to the consent decree that prevent officers from responding to requests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) regarding criminal aliens in custody, except in very limited circumstances. The Justice Department reviewed and approved those policies prior to their enactment by NOPD.
In their letter to Attorney General Lynch, Goodlatte and Gowdy write:
“It is outrageous that DOJ would seek a consent decree to actually inhibit the ability of the federal government to enforce federal law. By hindering the ability of ICE to apprehend criminal aliens, DOJ consciously disregards the safety and security of the American public by enabling the release of these criminals back into our communities to commit more crimes. It also places ICE agents and officers at greater risk when they are forced to arrest these criminal aliens who are no longer in a secure jail facility, but in public places where they can more readily escape or access a weapon. In addition, the consent decree may be interpreted to require NOPD to adopt policies that require its officers to violate federal law.”Below is the text of the letter to Attorney General Lynch. The signed copy can be found here.
May 18, 2016
The Honorable Loretta Lynch
Attorney General
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530
Dear Attorney General Lynch:
We are concerned by reports that the Department of Justice (DOJ) sought and obtained a consent decree in federal court requiring the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) to adopt policies that prohibit police officers from considering an individual’s immigration status when performing their law enforcement duties. Also troubling are reports that DOJ reviewed and approved written policies promulgated by NOPD in implementing the consent decree, which appear to restrict the ability of NOPD officers to respond to requests from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to assist in the enforcement of federal immigration law. This written policy, “Immigration Status,” became effective on February 28, 2016, and it now appears in Chapter 41.6.1 of the NOPD Operations Manual. The relevant policy statements provide:
- NOPD members shall not make inquiries into an individual’s immigration status, except as authorized by this Chapter.
- The enforcement of civil federal immigration laws falls exclusively within the authority of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE).
- The NOPD shall not engage in, assist, or support immigration enforcement except as follows: (a) In response to an articulated, direct threat to life or public safety; or (b) When such services are required to safely execute a criminal warrant or court order issued by a federal or state judge.
- Unless authorized by Paragraph 5, members are not permitted to accept requests by ICE or other agencies to support or assist in immigration enforcement operations . . . . In the event a member receives a request to support or assist in a civil immigration enforcement action[,] he or she shall report the request to his or her supervisor, who shall decline the request and document the declination in an interoffice memorandum to the Superintendent through the chain of command.