Texas Democrats are pressuring cities in their state to terminate contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement that allow the Trump administration to deputize state and local law enforcement officers as immigration agents.
Such agreements inked between local law enforcement agencies and ICE have skyrocketed during President Donald Trump’s second term as his administration attempts to deport as many immigrants — regardless of criminal history or lawful status — as possible. The move by Texas Democrats is part of a larger effort by the party, especially among Democratic governors, to ban or terminate police agreements with ICE.
Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro of San Antonio is leading the push against the agreements, which give local law enforcement similar protections to federal agents when carrying out immigration enforcement. Castro was joined by fellow Democratic Rep. Greg Casar, Texas state representatives and other local officials in pushing mayors to abandon the contracts with ICE.
“Your city’s participation in this program increases the risk that residents in a majority-Latino county will be targeted and racially profiled,” the lawmakers and local officials wrote to mayors across four Bexar County cities on Wednesday. “Your police department’s partnership with ICE will not only increase the risk of constitutional rights violations against your constituents but will damage public trust, strain your local law enforcement’s resources and budget, and diminish economic activity in your city and region.”
Texas and Florida are among the top states with the most agreements under the 287(g) program, named for a section of federal immigration law. The Trump administration has used the program to ramp up immigration arrests, enlisting police officers, state troopers and sheriff’s deputies in the president’s deportation campaign.
As of July, 1, 467 state and local law enforcement agencies had signed up for the controversial “task force” model across 32 states, according to data on ICE’s website. That means ICE is able to deputize thousands of officers across those local law enforcement agencies to stop people and arrest them if they are suspected of being in the country illegally.
In total, ICE has inked 2,179 agreements establishing partnerships with local law enforcement, including deals to process immigrants already held in jails. Those contracts have exploded since the start of the Trump administration, up from 135 at the end of the Biden administration and roughly 150 at the end of Trump’s first term, according to an analysis by the immigration advocacy group FWD.us.
“ICE has supercharged efforts with state and local law enforcement to assist federal immigration officers in our efforts to make America safe again,” a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson, who refused to provide their name, told MS NOW. The spokesperson added that such agreements have increased by “1,597%” since the start of Trump’s second term.
DHS did not say how many officers total have been deputized to work with ICE. Officers are cleared to carry out immigration arrests after completing 40 hours of online training or as determined by ICE.
“Allegations that DHS law enforcement engages in ‘racial profiling’ are disgusting, reckless and categorically FALSE,” the DHS spokesperson said in response to accusations of racial profiling from some lawmakers, immigrants and residents opposed to such agreements. “Law enforcement officers use ‘reasonable suspicion’ to investigate immigration status and probable cause to make arrests consistent with the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Supreme Court has already vindicated us on these practices.”
But there are multiple examples of local law enforcement deputized by ICE engaging in racial profiling when carrying out federal immigration arrests in the past. Castro and Texas Democrats pointed to that history in their letter to mayors, warning that a 2012 Justice Department investigation found that a sheriff’s office in North Carolina engaged in discriminatory policing when it implemented unlawful checkpoints at entrances to Latino neighborhoods, resulting in the termination of that county’s agreement with ICE.
The lawmakers also warned that an agreement with ICE is not a blank check for police departments, citing the Dallas police chief’s rejection of a $25 million deal because it would be on a reimbursement basis if certain criteria were met. Earlier this year, Florida sheriffs also said they were waiting for payment for immigration enforcement work.
The DHS spokesperson said, “There are separate reimbursement plans for each 287(g)-program model,” and that reimbursement amounts vary and depend on factors like officer training and “qualifying immigration enforcement activities conducted under ICE direction.”
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin has called the agreements with law enforcement agencies “the greatest partnership we can have.”
Mullin said DHS tells local and state law enforcement, “If you run across these individuals, keep them. We’ll pay you for your time, we’ll even give you some of the equipment, and we’ll pay for some of the equipment, just hold them and we’ll come pick them up.”
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