Booker to Reintroduce Bill Blocking ICE Partnership Program

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., will reintroduce a bill aimed at preventing Immigration and Customs Enforcement from forming partnerships with local law enforcement, CBS News reports.

Booker, who is running for the Democratic nomination for president, seeks to amend a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act with his own “PROTECT Immigration Act,” that would stop ICE from continuing their controversial program, which effectively deputizes local law enforcement into federal immigration agents.

"With limited time and resources, local and state law enforcement should be focused on keeping their communities safe and pursuing serious threats, not acting as ICE agents," the senator said in a statement.

"There are officers inside the Clark County Detention Center, our main jail, that are actually employed by our local police. But if you meet them, you will think they are ICE officers," Michael Kagan, the director of the University of Nevada Las Vegas Immigration Clinic, told CBS News last week.

"They will function as immigration officers inside the jail, screening out people and starting the deportation process against them,” he added.

CBS notes that the bill is unlikely to find much support in the Republican-controlled Senate, especially since the White House has touted the program as a success. The bill also will be reintroduced in the Democrat-controlled House by Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., where it might have more luck finding support.

• Cory Booker Pushes Fingerprints, Federal Licenses, Databases to Restrict Gun Ownership
• Franklin Graham: Booker Obviously Doesn't Know Power of Prayer