TOPEKA — Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach announced Monday that Attorney General’s Office and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation signed an agreement with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that will allow KBI agents to work with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement to remove criminal illegal aliens from Kansas.
Kansas is one of the first states in the nation to enter such an agreement.
“All across Kansas, illegal aliens who are dangerous criminals or gang members are released back to the streets on a regular basis. That will end. This agreement will ensure that those criminals are deported,” Kobach said.Under the terms of the agreement, a limited number of KBI agents will receive ICE training that authorizes the agents to arrest illegal aliens, to serve and execute warrants for some immigration violations, and to issue immigration detainers.Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act authorizes states and political subdivisions of a state to enter into such agreements.“The KBI is pleased to have another tool at our disposal to get known criminal offenders out of our communities,” KBI Director Tony Mattivi said. “This agreement will not shift KBI investigative priorities but will allow us to more swiftly achieve justice in cases in which the KBI currently focuses – major violent crimes, crimes committed against children, and targeting drug trafficking organizations.”