The number of formal partnerships between U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and local law enforcement agencies has surged since President Donald Trump returned to office, despite longstanding concerns over civil rights violations and lack of oversight, a new investigation by The Guardian shows.
More than 370 new agreements under ICE’s 287(g) program have been signed since January, tripling the number of such arrangements nationwide. These agreements empower local law enforcement to assist in identifying individuals for deportation.
However, the report details the extent to which critical oversight mechanisms have been dismantled over the past months. Just ten days into Trump’s second term, for example, the administration dissolved a Department of Homeland Security advisory board created to vet new 287(g) applications.
This board included representatives from the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and was tasked with assessing the suitability of local departments. Its elimination rerouted all approvals directly to ICE leadership, significantly accelerating the approval process.
The result has been the rapid approval of agencies previously denied participation in the program across the country. The report focuses specifically on the Columbus County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina, where Sheriff Bill Rogers has been the subject of recent lawsuits and misconduct allegations, including the beating of an inmate and excessive use of force during arrests.
Despite these alleged transgressions, the department was accepted into the 287(g) program on March 5, weeks after Trump took office. “Clear red flags” were ignored, said Kristi Graunke, legal director of the ACLU of North Carolina, citing the department’s history of abuse and lack of transparency.
“With an agency like Columbus county, where there have been recent, very serious complaints of misconduct, abuse of power and legal violations, I worry whether there is sufficient oversight and screening happening,” Graunte said. “Immigration law is incredibly complex and unless there is proper oversight and intensive training, there is incredible capacity for mistakes and harm.”
The surge in ICE partnerships coincides with a legislative push North Carolina to expand mandatory cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. On Tuesday, North Carolina’s House passed a bill requiring sheriffs to notify ICE not only when detainers are issued but also when they are set to expire.
The bill, House Bill 318, also expands the kinds of charges that trigger cooperation, despite opposition from civil rights groups who argue it undermines public trust and due process.
The rapid expansion is not limited to major jurisdictions either. Some new 287(g) agreements involve departments serving communities of fewer than 1,000 residents, including Pittsburg, New Hampshire, where a department of two officers — one full-time — signed a task force agreement despite reporting no immigration-related encounters in a decade.
As ICE shifts its strategy and footprint, observers warn that the effects of these agreements will vary widely. “We aren’t going to really know until we start hearing reports about what’s going on in these particular new jurisdictions,” said Austin Kocher, an immigration policy researcher at Syracuse University to The Guardian.
Originally published on Latin Times
