Law Enforcement Support Center

Fact Sheet

The mission of the Law Enforcement Support Center (LESC) is to protect the United States and its people by providing timely, accurate information and assistance to the federal, state and local law enforcement community—365 days a year, 24 hours a day.

The Law Enforcement Support Center (LESC), administered by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), is a critical point of contact for the national law enforcement community, providing a wide range of informational services to officers and investigators at the local, state and federal levels.

The primary users of the LESC are state and local law enforcement officers in the field who need information about foreign nationals they encounter in the course of their daily duties.

The LESC, located in Williston, Vermont, operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to provide timely and accurate information to law enforcement officers on the immigration status and identities of individuals who have been arrested or are under investigation for criminal activity.

As the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), ICE has made information-sharing partnerships with other law enforcement entities a key strategy in the agency’s homeland security mission. The LESC is the centerpiece of this information-sharing effort.

Established in 1994, the LESC has evolved into a national center for supporting law enforcement operations and investigations.

LESC technicians have ready access to a wide range of databases and intelligence resources, including the following:

• ICE immigration databases;
• National Crime Information Center (NCIC);
• Interstate Identification Index (III);
• Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS);
• U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) system; and
• National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS).

In addition, the LESC analyzes and disseminates information received from the public about suspicious or criminal activity. Information obtained from the public via ICE’s toll-free tip hotline—1-866-DHS-2-ICE—is analyzed by the professional law enforcement staff at the LESC and quickly forwarded to ICE field units for investigation or other action.

LESC information and support services also include the following:

• responding to queries from local, state and federal correctional and court systems on immigration status of individuals in custody;
• responding to FBI requests for criminal background and immigration status checks on individuals seeking to purchase firearms in the United States (as authorized by the Brady Act);
• responding to U.S. Secret Service requests for criminal background and immigration status checks on individuals visiting the White House; and
• responding to queries related to employment issues at sites that could be vulnerable to sabotage, attack or exploitation—including airports, defense contractors and installations, chemical factories, petroleum refineries and other critical infrastructure sites.

For information on how to access the Law Enforcement Support Center via the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (NLETS) please direct inquiries to:

LESC Computer Services Division
188 Harvest Lane
Williston,Vermont 05495
(802) 872-6050

or via the NLETS Administrative Message (AM) to
VTINS07S0