Updated April 7, 2006

ICE Law Enforcement Support Center (LESC)

The Law Enforcement Support Center (LESC) is a national enforcement operations facility administered by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). It is the single national point of contact that provides timely immigration status and identity information to local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies on aliens suspected, arrested, or convicted of criminal activity.

Located in Williston, Vermont, the LESC operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to supply real-time assistance to law enforcement officers who are investigating or have arrested foreign-born individuals involved in criminal activity. The primary users of the LESC are state and local law enforcement officers seeking information about aliens encountered in the ordinary course of their daily enforcement activities. The LESC receives queries from federal, state, and local correctional and court systems seeking information about individuals in custody or encountered elsewhere in a criminal justice system. Law Enforcement officers have immediate access to alien records entered in the NCIC (National Crime Information Center) and immigration information from every alien file maintained by the Department of Homeland Security – approximately 100 million records – by accessing the IAQ (Immigration Alien Query) database through the NCIC.

Some accomplishments in fiscal year 2004 and 2005 include:

• The number of electronic queries sent to the LESC from the Federal, state, local, tribal and international law enforcement community has increased from 4,000 queries in 1996 to over 676,000 queries in 2005.
  
  
• Over the past two fiscal years, 2004 and 2005, the LESC has responded to a combined total of 1,343,963 electronic queries.
  
  
• In 2005, queries were received from nearly 12,000 distinct ORIs (electronic addresses) representing law enforcement agencies in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Canada.
  
  
• In 2005, the LESC received 107,036 telephone calls on its dedicated law enforcement lines from law enforcement officers around the country seeking ICE information or assistance.
  
  
• In 2004 and 2005, the eleven ICE Special Agents assigned to the LESC lodged a combined total of 27,886 ICE immigration detainers for an average of 1,200 detainers a month. Of the 27,886 detainers, 12,414 were criminals and fugitives who were NCIC hits.
  
  
• The LESC received 98,857 calls on the ICE tip-line, 1-866-DHS-2ICE in 2005, an increase of more than 71,000 calls over 2004.
  
  
• Over 50% of the daily DHS-2ICE calls were identified as viable leads and sent electronically to ICE field offices for action or investigation within 24 to 48 hours of the call.

In addition to providing immigration and identity information on suspected criminal aliens, the LESC offers other vital services, including:

• National Crime Information Center (NCIC) – The LESC administers and controls immigration–related cases in this nationwide law enforcement consortium and criminal databases for ICE.
  
  
• Investigative Services – The LESC provides support to a host of ongoing multi-agency investigative initiatives. Working in concert with ICE field units, task forces, and other local, state, and federal investigators, the LESC gathers, analyzes, and responds to thousands of query requests.
  
  
• Special Response Unit (SRU) – The LESC’s Special Response Unit is the central point of contact for a number of special information requests. For example, the LESC conducts “Brady Checks” for the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) program, screening all foreign-born applicants for firearm permits for immigration status before being authorized to purchase or possess a weapon. The SRU also handles queries related to national security employment issues (e.g. nuclear industry employment and commercial drivers with hazardous materials clearance).
  
  
• Law Enforcement Training – To help officers in the field make better use of information the LESC provides, the center offers a training program that provides instruction on how to access LESC information and on ICE’s role and responsibilities. Training has most recently been provided to federal, state, and local officers in Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New York, Texas, and Washington, D.C.