Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents (ICE) will now be granted the option of taking recently released federal inmates targeted for both deportation and further criminal prosecution directly into custody.

The new legal access grants ICE officials complete priority over local law enforcement agencies in the handling of such inmates. Local law enforcement agencies seeking to prosecute the same person for other offenses will now be required to provide assurances to immigration officials that once their prosecutions have ended the designated inmates will immediately be returned to the custody of immigration officials.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch Makes Annoucement

The change in policy was announced by Attorney General Loretta Lynch on Feb. 24, before a House Appropriations Subcommittee.

"This may have the effect that there may be local cases that may not be able to be prosecuted because, again, the person will be taken into ICE custody and then deported," she said. "And if a jurisdiction has a concern over that, we will talk to them, but we would have to have assurances that ICE would also then be able to get the individual back." 

The Obama administration's actions come roughly six months after 32-year-old Kate Steinle was shot to death in broad daylight on a San Francisco pier by an undocumented immigrant who should have been deported.

Prior to the deadly incident, immigration officials had requested Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez be detained by local authorities for the purposes of deportation.

Republican Texas Rep. John Culberson championed the policy shift, insisting the change and increased pressure now being felt by cities and counties everywhere to cooperate with ICE officials in order to access federal grant funding could make all the difference.

Center for Immigration Studies director Jessica Vaughan also welcomed the change, telling the AP the biggest challenge could come in making certain targeted suspects don't evade prosecution by being too quickly being deported. She stressed local prosecutors will need to start being more clear and direct in fingering individuals they want to see turned over to ICE.

While hinting that she is hopeful the change won't impact too many cases, National Day Laborer Organizing Network litigation director Jessica Bansal told the AP she is convinced better communication will be now be needed between those factions working in immigration and the criminal justice system.

Immigration a 2016 Presidential Race Hot Issue

The issue of immigration has been out a hot button issue throughout the 2016 race for the White House, with Republican front-runner Donald Trump insisting he will quickly move to deport as many as 11 million immigrants in as little as 18 months if elected president.

Meanwhile, Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton has vowed to advance further legislation calling for immigration reform during her first 100 days in office if she is tabbed as Barack Obama's successor.