Experts weigh in as Michigan Senate Democrats push for legislation to limit ICE operations in state
Three Michigan Senate Democrats introduced three bills late last year that aimed to change how ICE is allowed to operate in the state.
Senate Bills 508, 509 and 510 would prohibit ICE agents from conducting operations "in a sensitive location" such as a hospital, school and place of worship, prohibit the use of face masks and prevent municipalities from cooperating with the agency.
"The relationship between state and federal law is somewhat complicated. You know, as a general rule, federal law is supreme," said Leah Litman, professor of law at the University of Michigan.
Litman explained that state laws can't conflict with or impede federal law.
"It's very limited what a state could do when it comes to federal jurisdiction," said Brendan Beery, a professor of law at the Cooley Law School.
Beery said that could make it difficult for these laws to have much of an impact if they were passed by the legislature, but federal agents still have to obey state laws that apply to everyone.
"Federal agents can't just waltz into some state and start breaking state laws," said Beery.
Another factor is that states can't have laws that target a group or an individual.
"States can't like single out federal officers and like, impose special burdens on them," said Litman.
Although there's no federal law that says immigration officers have to wear masks during operations, Beery says it could be legally tricky for the Michigan law to focus on ICE agents specifically.
"Are they passing laws that apply to everybody? Or are they passing laws that apply to the feds? If it's the latter, they're going to have a lot of trouble," said Beery.
Both professors said the issue of jurisdiction is a deeply complicated one.
"The relationship between federal and state, it's never been more in the spotlight than it is right now," he said. "We used to be able to just say, stay in your own lane. But it's going to it's going to erupt into a legal issue for sure."