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Detroit Police Chief Says Officers Won't Be Involved In Immigration Enforcement

DETROIT (WWJ/AP) -- With a renewed focus on immigration coming from the White House, Detroit's police chief says, in most cases, his officers won't be involved in immigration enforcement.

Detroit Police Chief James Craig spoke to the Detroit City Council on Monday, outlining what his department is responsible for when it comes to immigration.

"We don't do the immigration police work, we're not going to," Craig said. "When we do traffic stops we're not interested in immigration status. There is one exception and we've been following this, [it] predates this administration's directive -- is that if it's involving a felony only."

President Donald Trump revealed a revised travel ban on Monday, which targets would-be visitors from Iran, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen and Libya -- the same countries listed on the original order except Iraq has been removed.

After Trump announced his initial executive order in January -- which was nullified by a federal court just weeks later -- Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said he doesn't think a primary function of state and local police is to act as immigration officers.

Snyder says Trump "has to make those decisions" because it's not a state responsibility, but regardless of national immigration policies, he will "continue to promote Michigan as a welcoming place for immigrants."

 

(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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