The issues that police departments must address nowadays go beyond their core responsibilities. With limited funding, poor and obsolete military gear, vast technical and data inadequacies, unequal recruiting, and diminished support services for personnel, they must address the issues in the context of increased racial and cultural conflicts (National Policing Institute, n.d.). Increased state and municipal police engagement in national immigration enforcement entail costs, legal concerns, and diminished community confidence. Among the benefits of such cooperation might be slightly reduced crime rates and ICE compensations for technologies and services. However, law enforcement agencies, like all humans, are prone to depend on preconceptions, which will exacerbate racial profiling even with great training. As a result, there will be more ligations concerning wrongful arrests, which will additionally lower community support and cooperation with law enforcement.
As for the sanctuary cities that are willing to cooperate with law enforcement agencies regarding immigrants only in cases of serious law violations, I believe that such an approach is rational. From an ethical perspective, it is fair since if the individual does not pose a threat to the well-being of others, there is no reason to report them, and such an approach will encourage better cooperation within the community. On the other hand, if the individual has been convicted of a violent crime, there is necessary to cooperate with law enforcement agencies due to the threat to society.
Lastly, local governments are able to set law enforcement policies without federal interference. The United States federalized form of administration restricts how much control Congress may have over state and municipal laws pertaining to police enforcement (Congressional Research Service, 2020). The interference of the federal government and law enforcement agencies in the matters of municipalities and states is wrong. The intention of ICE to employ their agents in sanctuary cities will only make the gap between the cities and enforcement agencies wider. In the end, there might be even less cooperation from the sanctuary cities. Therefore, each state and municipality should make individual decisions regarding this issue.
References
Congressional Research Service. (2020). What role might the federal government play in law enforcement reform? Web.
National Policing Institute. (n.d.). Community Policing and Procedural Justice in Jail Settings. Web.