Across the country, voters made clear Tuesday they oppose having local law enforcement agencies assist US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in detaining and jailing immigrants.
In multiple states, including Texas, Maryland, Wisconsin and New York, county sheriffs who actively embraced partnership agreements with ICE were ousted by candidates who oppose ‘’deputizing’’ local police for federal immigration enforcement. A pro-ICE attorney general candidate in Texas and ballot initiative in Colorado also met defeat.
The results are an encouraging sign in slowing ICE’s expanded use of so-called 287(g) agreements, especially Task Force Model agreements, which provide generous financial support to local and state agencies that deputize their officers to conduct civil immigration enforcement as part of their routine work.
With more than 1,850 such agreements in place in 30 states, the 287(g) program has been a key lever in ICE’s stepped-up enforcement numbers, including record high arrests last June and July, many of them in states like Florida and Texas which have hundreds of 287(g) agreements in place. More than 29,000 state and local officers have been granted authority to question people about their immigration status and make arrests, according to Department of Homeland Security.
But that momentum may be shifting: In red and blue states alike, voters showed leeriness at seeing their local agencies, including highway patrols, parks departments and even state wildlife officers, being used for immigration enforcement.
Democrat Nathan Johnson’s victory in the Texas Attorney General race could be one of the biggest game changers. Johnson, a state senator who opposed a state law requiring county sheriffs to seek 287(g) agreements with ICE by Dec 1, will be responsible for enforcing that law – or not. As of yesterday, 209 of the 232 sheriff offices covered by the state law had 287(g) agreements, leaving 23 without one ahead of the application deadline.
Johnson has also raised concerns about whether his own office should continue collaborating directly with ICE on immigration enforcement.
Similar shifts happened in other parts of the country, including Colorado where voters rejected a ballot initiative requiring police officers, sheriff departments and prosecutors to work more closely with federal immigration agents.
In Maryland’s Frederick County, a notorious pro-ICE, pro-287(g) sheriff, Chuck Jenkins, who boasted of helping deport 2,000 people, was thrown out by a double-digit margin. The victor Democrat Karl Bickel, has vowed not to work with ICE.
Pro-ICE sheriffs, who actively embraced 287(g) agreements, were also shown the door in Wisconsin and New York.
Jason Rippl, the incoming sheriff in Winnebago County, WI, has promised to void the county’s 287(g) agreement with ICE on his first day in office.
“I think that by any modern law enforcement standards, we’ve seen pretty clearly that [ICE’s] tactics are sloppy,” Rippl told a reporter last month.
So begins the tug of war between ICE, which is flush with money for more 287(g) agreements, and new local leaders saying, ‘Not in our backyard.’
We are paying them to “serve and protect” our communities not snick on our communities to the Gestapo
More great news!!