Opinion ID: 4368537
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Byrne JAG and the Challenged Conditions

Text: Federal grants to state and local governments play a large role in facilitating national, state, and local policy. In FY2018 alone, the federal government was expected to give approximately $728 billion to state and local governments through 1,319 federal grant programs. Robert Jay Dilger, Cong. Research Serv., R40638, Federal Grants to State and Local Governments: A Historical Perspective on Contemporary Issues 1 (2018). These programs encompass a wide range of policy areas, from health care to special education to infrastructure projects. Our immediate concern, however, is one particular grant program for state and local law enforcement: the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program. Byrne JAG, named for a fallen New York City police officer, was established in 2006 through the merger of two law enforcement grant programs. See Pub. L. No. 109-162, § 1111, 119 Stat. 2960, 3094 (2006). The Department of Justice administers the program through the Office of Justice Programs (“OJP”), which is headed by an Assistant Attorney General 7 (“AAG”). Byrne JAG is the “primary provider of federal criminal justice funding to States and units of local government” and distributes over $80 million in awards each year. Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program FY 2017 Local Solicitation, Dep’t of Justice (Aug. 3, 2017); App. 332. It is a “formula grant,” meaning that funds are distributed among all grantees based on a statutorily fixed formula. In the case of Byrne JAG, the formula considers two factors: population and violent crime statistics. See 34 U.S.C. § 10156. Once approved, grantees may spend those funds within any of the eight statutorily enumerated areas. 1 Any “State or unit of local government” may submit an application to the Attorney General for this grant. Id. § 10153(a). Historically, the OJP has included a number of conditions on the application (over 50 for FY2017), most of which relate to program integrity or impose requirements for the handling of federal funds. Applicants must also certify that they “will comply with all provisions of this part and all other applicable Federal laws.” Id. § 10153(a)(5)(D). Philadelphia has received an award under Byrne JAG every year since the program’s inception in 2006. Its average annual award from the program is 1 Byrne JAG funds may be used for the following programs: “(A) Law enforcement programs. (B) Prosecution and court programs. (C) Prevention and education programs. (D) Corrections and community corrections programs. (E) Drug treatment and enforcement programs. (F) Planning, evaluation, and technology improvement programs. (G) Crime victim and witness programs (other than compensation). (H) Mental health programs and related law enforcement and corrections programs, including behavioral programs and crisis intervention teams.” 34 U.S.C. § 10152(a)(1). 8 $2.5 million, which it has used to modernize courtroom technology, fund reentry programs for persons on release from prison, and operate substance abuse programs, among other programs. In the FY2017 applications that are the subject of this case, the Department included three new conditions. These Challenged Conditions are: • The Certification Condition. Grantees must “certify compliance with [8 U.S.C. § 1373 (“Section 1373”)].” Backgrounder on Grant Requirements, Dep’t of Justice (July 25, 2017); App. 246. Section 1373 prohibits state and local governments from restricting the sharing of information relating to an individual’s immigration status—lawful or unlawful—with federal immigration officials. • The Access Condition. Grantees must “permit personnel of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) to access any detention facility in order to meet with an alien and inquire as to his or her right to be or remain in the United States.” Id. • The Notice Condition. Grantees must “provide at least 48 hours advance notice to DHS regarding the scheduled release date and time of an alien in the jurisdiction’s custody when DHS requests such notice in order to take custody of the alien.” Id. The Attorney General maintains that these conditions are “designed to ensure that the activities of federal law-enforcement grant recipients do not impair the federal government’s ability to ensure public safety and the rule of law by detaining and removing aliens upon their release from local criminal custody.” Att’y Gen. Br. 12. 9 Although the Certification Condition did not apply to FY2016 applications, DOJ asked ten jurisdictions, including Philadelphia, to submit legal opinions certifying their compliance with Section 1373. Philadelphia submitted its letter in April 2017. Upon receiving letters from all ten jurisdictions, DOJ issued a press release on July 6, 2017. It stated that the Department was “in the process of reviewing” the letters, but also stated that “[i]t is not enough to assert compliance, the jurisdictions must actually be in compliance.” Press Release, Dep’t of Justice (July 6, 2017); App. 248. B. Immigration Enforcement and Local Law Enforcement Under our federal system, “both the National and State Governments have elements of sovereignty the other is bound to respect.” Arizona v. United States, 567 U.S. 387, 398 (2012). While the federal government has “broad, undoubted power over the subject of immigration and the status of aliens,” 2 id. at 394, the “States possess primary authority for defining and enforcing the criminal law,” United States v. Lopez, 514 U.S. 549, 561 n.3 (1995) (internal quotation omitted). These powers intersect when a state or city arrests an individual whom ICE would also like to apprehend for removal proceedings. 3 This occurs frequently: 142,356 times in FY2017. 2 Within the Executive Branch, immigration enforcement falls primarily to DHS. And within DHS, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) is the law enforcement agency tasked with identifying, apprehending, and removing aliens from the United States. 3 “Removal” is synonymous with “deportation.” But as a matter of legal terminology, the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104-208, 10 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enf’t, Fiscal Year 2017 ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Report 8 (2017). An important tool used by ICE in these situations is the immigration detainer. Once ICE identifies a removable alien who is in state or local custody, it cannot simply wrest that individual from custody. Instead, it may issue a detainer, which serves to “advise another law enforcement agency that [it] seeks custody of an alien presently in the custody of that agency, for the purpose of arresting and removing the alien.” 8 C.F.R. § 287. Detainers may ask two things of the state or local agency: that it notify ICE at least 48 hours before a removable alien is released from custody; and that it detain a removable alien for up to 48 hours past the time that the alien would have otherwise been released to allow ICE to apprehend the individual. ICE Operations Report, supra at 7. A detainer is a request, not a demand. Galarza v. Szalczyk, 745 F.3d 634, 642 (3d Cir. 2014) (“[D]etainers are not mandatory.”). And DHS’s current policy authorizes ICE officials to issue detainers only after obtaining an administrative warrant supported by a showing of probable cause that the alien is removable. ICE Operations Report, supra at 7-8. Like the immigration detainer, Section 1373 seeks to facilitate cooperation between the State and National Governments. Specifically, it prohibits any restrictions on the sharing of immigration information. Section 1373 provides in relevant part: [A] Federal, State, or local government entity or official may not prohibit, or in any way restrict, any government entity or official from sending replaced all references to “deportation” with “removal.” See