How local agencies are partnering with ICE to arrest an increasing number of immigrants

Across the United States, local agencies have become immigration enforcers under a federal program officials say strengthens public safety, but critics warn spreads fear, erodes trust and threatens the fabric of immigrant communities. Known as the 287(g) program, it was created under the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act and allows ICE to authorize state and local law enforcement officers to perform specific immigration enforcement duties under ICE’s supervision. The program is seen by some as a way to rev up President Donald Trump’s effort on illegal immigration as the Department of Justice moves to prosecute state and local officials accused of impeding that effort. How the program works and its history The program, which has seen increased use during Trump’s second term as part of his effort to fulfill a campaign promise to address immigration, has been in existence for almost 30 years and was once the focal point of a lawsuit against one of America’s most notorious sheriffs. Through the 287(g) program, ICE can partner with local agencies through three models: the Jail Enforcement Model, the Task Force Model and the Warrant Service Officer program, according to ICE. “The Jail Enforcement Model allows your officers to identify and process removable aliens currently in your jail or detention facility who have pending or active criminal charges while they’re in your custody,” according to ICE. The Task Force Model allows local officers, under ICE oversight, to enforce certain immigration laws during routine policing. The Warrant Service Officer Program trains local law enforcement officers – something ICE says it bears the entire cost of – to serve administrative immigration warrants on detainees in their custody. State law enforcement agencies wanting to participate in the program must enter into memorandums of agreement with ICE, according to the act, before participating in the program. Memorandums of Agreement are arrangements made between the Department of Homeland Security and local law enforcement agencies, granting certain state and local officers federal immigration enforcement powers such entering data into ICE’s database and case management system, interviewing people about their immigration status, accessing DHS databases and issuing immigration detainers, the American Immigration Council says. Why the program is gaining new attention By the end of President Barack Obama’s administration, 34 local law enforcement agencies were part of the program, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. As of April 24, ICE had signed more than 450 memorandums of agreement for 287(g) programs covering 38 states, according to its website, meaning more than 450 agencies are now a part of the program. Most are sheriff’s offices and police departments; some are state-level agencies such as the Alaska Department of Corrections and Montana Department of Justice. Florida has several agencies in the program statewide, the most of any participating state. They include the Florida Highway Patrol, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Florida State Guard, the Florida Department of Agricultural Law Enforcement and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and all signed collaboration agreements with ICE, according to an announcement by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in February. These agreements are meant to operate under federal supervision and supplement — not replace — federal efforts, according to a January executive order from the president. “The growth of the 287g program, in particular of the Task Force Model, further fuels Trump’s mass deportation agenda by expanding the dragnet for putting people into the arrest to deportation pipeline,” Immigrant Legal Resource Center says. What critics say Juan Cuba, with the Miami Freedom Project, said “287(g) agreements are fundamentally at odds with the goals of local policing.” “They erode community trust in local law enforcement and make it less likely for people who are undocumented, or families of mixed status, to call 911 or report crimes,” Cuba said Sunday. “These agreements also redirect limited resources that could be focused on serious crimes. 287(g) makes us all less safe.” The controversial 287(g) program was once at the center of a lawsuit filed against Joe Arpaio, a man dubbed “America’s Toughest Sheriff,” after complaints that immigration raids by his deputies amounted to unconstitutional roundups of Latinos. An investigation later found the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office had a pattern of civil rights abuses that “led the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to suspend its cooperation agreement (under section 287(g)) with the sheriff’s office and restrict the MCSO’s access to immigration databases through the Secure Communities program,” the American Immigration Council reported. The program has created a system of racial profiling by law enforcement, according to the ACLU, which has been working to end the program for over a decade. The non-profit organization has called it a way in which “sheriffs notorious for racism, xenophobia, and civil rights violations have been able to target and attack immigrants in their communities.” A 2022 report from the organization – titled in part “License to Abuse” – suggests “dozens of sheriff partners in the 287(g) program have records of racism, abuse, and violence,” with at least 59% of participating sheriffs having “records of anti-immigrant, xenophobic rhetoric, contributing to a continued climate of fear for immigrants and their families, undermining public safety and contributing to the risk of racial profiling.” The program can also be expensive for local jurisdictions. While Immigration and Customs Enforcement pays for the training, local agencies must pay for personnel and administrative costs; overtime for officers carrying out immigration-related duties; and any legal costs, the Center for American Progress wrote in a 2018 report. That could mean paying fines or legal fees. The North Carolina Justice Center, in a report about the costs to local communities enforcing federal immigration laws, cited examples in which communities paid as much as $255,000 to settle claims involving ICE detainers. Cuba, with the Miami Freedom Project, said he wants people to know one thing: “What the public needs to know is that the Trump administration is using these agreements to force local police to do its dirty work at the expense of public safety and our civil liberties.” The ripple effects across the country In a sweeping show of force, ICE announced Saturday nearly 800 people were arrested across Florida in just four days, the result of a massive, multiagency crackdown that has sent shock waves through communities. DeSantis touted the operation as “an example of FL and (the Department of Homeland Security) partnering to deliver big results on immigration enforcement and deportations,” according to a statement on X. “Florida is leading the nation in active cooperation with the Trump administration for immigration enforcement and deportation operations!” DeSantis wrote in a separate post Saturday. Residents in Doral, Florida – home to the largest Venezuelan immigrant population in the country – had expressed worry this agreement would inject fear in the community and warned that undocumented victims of a crime will elect to stay silent rather than report it. They were also concerned the agreement would make the police department less effective at responding to local crime. Still, the Doral City Council unanimously approved the partnership with ICE – with one official saying they had no choice. “Passing this is painful for all of us,” said City Attorney Lorenzo Cobiella. “We have very limited discretion on what we can do. We’re being mandated by the state to take certain actions and if we don’t, we’re being threatened with criminal penalties.” This month, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed Senate Bill 1164, also known as the Arizona ICE Act, which would have required state and local officials to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement through programs such as 287(g). In a letter to Senate President Warren Petersen, who introduced the legislation, Hobbs said Arizona should not be forced to “take marching orders from Washington, DC.” Petersen criticized the veto as “another slap in the face” to Arizonans affected by border issues, while former Border Patrol agent Art Del Cueto accused Hobbs of endangering public safety by limiting cooperation with federal authorities, according to a release.