Police officers in Florida and other states are being deputized to perform immigration enforcement duties under U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement supervision, according to a recent podcast from The Wall Street Journal.
A program called 287(g) is named for a provision of a federal law passed in the 1990s that allowed federal immigration agencies to deputize state and local law enforcement to perform certain immigration-related functions. The program has expanded under the Trump administration as the president has revived a form of 287(g) referred to as the task force model, which allows police to function almost like ICE agents while they are performing typical law enforcement duties. For example, police officers may check immigration status during a traffic stop, detain people they believe are here illegally and give them to ICE for processing.
The purpose of using the task force model reportedly is to have more personnel and resources available to reach the Trump administration’s goal of deporting undocumented immigrants.
Florida has been leading the immigration crackdown, allocating nearly $300 million into immigration enforcement and building an immigration detention center in the Everglades. It also has the most 287(g) agreements with ICE; of about 500 task force agreements, more than half are in Florida. Additionally, nearly all of the Florida Highway Patrol’s 1,800 troopers have been trained and now are designated immigration officers. The Florida Highway Patrol has been involved in more than 3,500 apprehensions of people suspected of being in the U.S. illegally.
Other states with active 287(g) task force agreements include Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Texas and Wyoming.
ICE told The Wall Street Journal that immigration enforcement performed by police officers is done under the agency’s supervision because ICE and Border Patrol have had significant training to perform immigration enforcement duties.
The Trump administration has said it would like to have at least 20,000 state and local law enforcement officers trained to perform some immigration enforcement duties.
