DESIGNATED IMMIGRATION AGENTS AUTHORIZED TO PARTICIPATE IN DRUG ENFORCEMENT

An Agreement Is Reached to Limit Drug Trafficking at the U.S.-Mexico
Border, a Move Intended to End the Turf War Between the Drug
Enforcement Administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

In an effort to plug a hole in U.S.-Mexico drug enforcement, the U.S.
departments of Justice and Homeland Security announced an agreement
Thursday that will give designated immigration agents expanded powers
to pursue drug investigations.

A key goal is to end the long-standing turf battles between the
Justice Department's Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland
Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement that many critics
believe have hampered investigations.

The agreement will allow an "unlimited" number of ICE agents to be
cross-designated as DEA agents, giving them the authority to
investigate suspected drug smugglers at the border and
internationally -- a prerogative that in the past has been jealously
guarded by the DEA.

Both departments also pledged greater information sharing and better
coordination of activities.

"Moving past old disputes and ensuring cooperation between all levels
of our departments has been one of our top priorities since taking
office," Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. and Homeland Security
Secretary Janet Napolitano said in a statement.

The agreement "will strengthen our efforts to combat international
narcotics smuggling, streamline operations and bring better
intelligence to our frontline personnel," they said.

But the announcement did not satisfy Sen. Charles E. Grassley
(R-Iowa), who has complained for years about the turf battles between
the two agencies. Grassley, a senior member of the Senate Judiciary
Committee and co-chairman of the Senate Caucus on International
Narcotics Control, said the two did not go far enough in addressing
the problems.

"They've kicked the can down the road, which could lead to more of
the same squabbles we're trying to get rid of," Grassley said in a statement.

Officials at both departments refused to release the actual
agreement, saying that doing so could give the cartels confidential
information about government operations and resources.

It will be in force for one year and then reviewed, with possible
changes made before it is renewed for another two years, DEA Acting
Administrator Michele M. Leonhart and ICE Assistant Secretary John T.
Morton said in a conference call.

Bradley C. Schreiber, a senior advisor at the Department of Homeland
Security from 2007 until earlier this year, said it is uncertain what
effect the agreement will have on a stormy relationship that has
become institutionalized over several years.

Schreiber said the DEA had been trying to protect its role as the
nation's primary drug enforcement agency in battles with the U.S.
Customs Service and, later, Homeland Security.

ICE has also been sharply criticized, by Grassley and federal
watchdog auditors, for not sharing information with the DEA and not
participating in its special counter-narcotics fusion center.

Schreiber said that as many as 1,300 ICE agents had cross-designation
in the past, but in practice, many of them were barred from actually
participating in investigations and other drug enforcement efforts.
In addition, thousands of other seasoned ICE agents were effectively
sidelined in the drug war because they did not get the
cross-designation, he said.

At the same time, the FBI has shifted agents to counter-terrorism and
the DEA expanded its activities around the world without hiring more
agents, leaving the Mexico border vulnerable to increasingly
sophisticated drug traffickers, according to Schreiber, Grassley and
other critics.

The agreement will allow designated ICE agents to investigate drug
cases and a wide array of other crimes in coordination with the DEA
- -- as long as there is a clear connection to the U.S. border.

"This is one piece of the puzzle in making America safer," Schreiber
said. "Now the federal government is one step closer to taking
ownership of the southwest border by putting more boots on the
ground, more much-needed personnel on the front lines of the drug war."