Detention of suspected illegal alien until ICE officer could arrive was not unreasonable. United States v. Nunez-Betancourt, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 141037 (E.D. N.C. November 15, 2010), R&R adopted, 766 F. Supp. 2d 651 (E.D. N.C. 2011):<\/p>\n
Defendant contends, however, the officers had no authority to detain him on suspicion of being an illegal alien because the officers were not federal actors and could not enforce federal immigration law. Assuming without deciding the officers had no authority to arrest Defendant on immigration charges, there is nothing in the statutes or case law cited by Defendant to suggest state officers have no authority to temporarily detain persons reasonably suspected of federal law violations. Federal and state law enforcement officials often work together on investigations; indeed, the Columbus County Sheriff’s Department first learned of the possible drug trafficking at 519 Old Baggett Road through information passed along by SA Swivel, a federal agent. Defendant directly informed Detective Worley of his illegal status. Lieutenant Worthington in turn informed SA Swivel of Defendant’s potential immigration violation. SA Swivel requested that Defendant be detained until he could personally interview him. Under the circumstances, it was entirely reasonable for the officers to temporarily detain Defendant until SA Swivel could arrive to confirm his illegal status.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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