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Sunday, October 15, 2017

ICE’s Civil Forfeiture Guidelines LEAKED: Value of Items More Important Than Innocent Owner





 

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents regularly steal the property from people they come across during investigations. An internal handbook, that was recently leaked, reveals the agents are instructed to select property for “forfeiture” with the monetary value as the primary factor, with the legal status of the property not as important.
The 71-page “Asset Forfeiture Handbook”, from June 2010, governs forfeiture practices for Homeland Security Investigations, a branch of ICE, reported The Intercept.
ICE confirmed to The Intercept that it was the most up-to-date version of department forfeiture guidelines.
They justify the theft, saying it is necessary because it is “helping to fund future law enforcement actions” and covering costs “that HSI would otherwise be unable to fund.”
Civil forfeiture is the government practice of taking property from a private citizen. This is also known as legalized theft, but it is OK when the government steals.  The person never has to be charged with a crime and there is no recourse for the victim to get back the items taken.
In civil forfeiture cases, the state prosecutes a person’s property, rather than the owner themselves, and assumes the property’s guilt because property has no due process rights.
“If there is not enough net equity to justify seizure and forfeiture, is there an overriding law enforcement reason to justify the seizure (e.g., a vehicle with a smuggling compartment, a firearm in the possession of a felon)? In these cases, the value of the item may be of secondary importance,” the document reads, implying the value of the property is the primary factor when determining whether or not to steal it.
In fact, the document even directs agents to run an appraisal on private property before deciding whether to take it. Agents are to hire private contractors to run accurate appraisals and, if the property is worth enough, begin the forfeiture process, according to The Daily Caller.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) put $3.6 billion into the federal forfeiture treasury between 2003 and 2013. More than $1 billion of those funds came from ICE.
The leaked handbook also lists ways for agents to prevent property owners from defending their property from forfeiture. The handbook lists four defenses that agents must “prepare for:” “‘The innocent owner’ defense; entrapment; duress; and undue delay in bringing the forfeiture action.”
The handbook goes on to say that the innocent owner defense is “by far the most frequently utilized.”  Of course when stealing from people, the government agents don’t care whether or not someone is innocent.  They are just thieves doing their job.
“Asset forfeiture is an essential element of comprehensive and effective law enforcement as it deprives transnational criminal organizations of their illicitly obtained assets,” an ICE representative told The Intercept. The forfeiture of assets can be and is utilized as a sanction in criminal, civil, and administrative investigative activities.”

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