Foreign Police in the U.S.

(Los Angeles, California) A report from the AP discloses that foreign police officers are now performing law enforcement functions in the United States under a scheme supported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials. Reportedly, foreign police officers from Mexico, Argentina, Colombia and Canada are participating.

Although it's generally indicated that the foreign police are engaged in anti-smuggling operations, it's unclear what specific law enforcement functions they are permitted to perform. For example, it's mentioned that Canadian law enforcement officers have been given arrest authority in New York whereas Mexican officers do not have the same authority in Texas. However, Mexican officers are given the authority to investigate in Texas which logically means they can interview and interrogate suspects.

Consequently, one must ask which nation's laws and procedures are employed when foreign officers perform these functions. Interrogation of suspects under Mexican law is quite different from interrogations conducted under U.S. law.

Also, arrests of suspects in the U.S. by Canadian officers appear to be completely outside the law. And it seems to set a dangerous precedent where any nation could send policemen to the U.S. to arrest somebody to be tried in a court in -- pick a place -- Beijing or Islamabad or Pyongyang.

According to Tim Durst, ICE chief of contraband smuggling, the focus of the effort is information.

"We look at it as real-time, firsthand information sharing. It is one of the few ways to go back to the source of smuggling activity."

So, according to Durst, the whole scheme is designed for information-sharing but, as described, it appears to go way beyond simple communications. To my knowledge, putting someone in handcuffs has never been considered "information-sharing."

Nonetheless, the way the scheme supposedly works is that U.S. immigration and border patrol officers tell the Mexican, Colombian, Argentine and Canadian officers the plans for disrupting smuggling operations and the foreign officers tell their colleagues back in Mexico, Colombia, Argentina and Canada what is going down. The intended result is cross-border cooperation in stopping the flow of contraband.

Of course, the whole plan is predicated on a belief that most law enforcers in the foreign countries are not corrupt. I suggest that the belief is flawed with regard to Mexico, Colombia and Argentina where police allegedly often work in unison with smugglers.

In conclusion, I contend that foreign police performing law enforcement functions in the U.S. is not a good idea and it probably violates wheelbarrows-full of existing American laws. And most troubling of all is a statement by Tim Durst, the head anti-smuggling man with ICE.

"By working with our foreign partners, we can basically remove the border as a barrier," Durst said.

Frankly, I don't know how anyone in a position of authority could suggest removing the border.