Latest news with #IllegalImmigrationReformandImmigrantResponsibilityActof1996
Miami Herald
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Reversing course, Key West City Commissioners agree to cooperate with ICE agreement
Key West city commissioners on Tuesday night reversed course from a vote last week to declare an agreement with U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement void — instead opting to cooperate with the agency in the Trump administration's mass deportation effort. The decision angered the dozens of people who packed City Hall, urging commissioners to either stick with their initial vote to end the agreement with ICE or wait until a judge decides if municipalities must comply with such agreements. The city of South Miami filed a lawsuit in Leon County court in March against the DeSantis administration seeking a judge's opinion on whether the city is required to take part in so-called 287(g) agreements, named after a section in the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996. READ MORE: Key West City Commissioners vote to end police agreement with ICE. What's next? Key West City commissioners voted 4-2 not to wait for the judge's decision before voting on the ICE cooperation agreement. The vote to void the agreement with ICE last week sparked international headlines and a vow from the DeSantis administration to punish the Southernmost City if it didn't change course. On Tuesday, more than 100 people packed City Hall. Most urged commissioners to stick with their original decision, while wearing shirts that read, 'Be Brave.' A man and woman sang the Woody Guthrie song, 'Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos),' a protest song Guthrie wrote about a 1948 plane crash that killed almost 30 migrant farm workers on a deportation flight from California to Mexico. Lucy Hawk read a letter on behalf of 133 residents of Bahama Village, which has a large Haitian migrant community, pleading with commissioners to reject the 287(g) agreement. 'These people are very proud of what you did last week, and we hope you honor that,' Hawk said. Last Tuesday, the commission voted 6-1 to void the agreement, which allows police officers to stop, question and detain undocumented immigrants, arguing it was not enforceable because it was approved in March by the police chief and not the city manager by way of elected officials. However, following pressure from Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier — including threats to remove elected and unelected officials from office — three of the six commissioners, as well as Key West Mayor Danise Henriquez, voted to stay in the agreement. 'I'm voting with my head, and not my heart,' said Commissioner Donald Lee, the former Key West Police chief who last week voted to void the agreement when said the opposite, that he was 'voting with my heart' yet hoping that wouldn't get the city in trouble with the state. As people stormed out of the meeting, Commissioner Lissette Cuervo Carey, who voted last week to stay in the agreement and maintained her stance Tuesday, criticized the crowd's reaction. 'It appears that we are 'one human family,' ' she said, referencing the city's motto,' Unless we have a difference of opinion.' Commissioners Monica Haskell and Mary Lou Hoover voted to maintain the city's objection to entering into the 287(g) agreement. Commissioner Samuel Kaufman, who supported ending the agreement last week, wasn't present because he was out of town, but sent a statement criticizing Henriquez for calling the special meeting without enough time for him to change his travel plans. When the commission voted to end the agreement last week, Uthmeier, who sent a letter to the city the next morning threatening to take action against the city, including removing from office those who voted for the resolution. In Florida, law enforcement departments that operate county jails must enter partnerships with the federal government so their officers can carry out limited immigration agent functions. State statutes do not explicitly require local and municipal police departments to join these agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as the 287(g) program. But DeSantis and his administration have pressured local officials, arguing that their police departments must join to comply with the state's sanctuary city laws, which prohibit local governments from limiting collaboration with ICE. Uthmeier's office has also threatened local officials in Orlando and Ft Myers with removal from office if their local governments don't agree to have their police departments join 287(g) agreements. During the June 30 meeting, commissioners supporting the voiding of the 287(g) agreement argued Key West is not a so-called sanctuary city, meaning that if someone is arrested and police find out he or she is undocumented, police inform federal immigration authorities. City officials also said police regularly support and protect ICE and other federal agencies that operate in Key West, but officers have not taken part in immigration enforcement. Police Chief Sean Brandenburg said last week that he signed the agreement with ICE in March because he was told by law enforcement colleagues in other municipalities that if he didn't, he faced removal of office by the governor. But, he said Tuesday that his officers have never actively participated in ICE raids and don't plan to. 'We are not conducting raids of any kind,' he told commissioners. Berbeth Foster, senior staff attorney at the Community Justice Project, a racial justice and human rights legal nonprofit in Miami, told the commissioners Tuesday that municipalities are not required to join into 287(g) agreements in Florida. 'It is clear in the legal language in the statute,' Foster said. Hours before the hearing, Key West Mayor Danise Henriquez, who voted along with the majority of the City Commission to void the agreement with ICE last week, stressed she did so only because the city's charter required the agreement to be signed by the city manager, not the police chief. Henriquez said that she supported the majority vote because she thought a new a new 287(g) agreement should be written up that 'could be considered and, if approved, properly executed by the City Manager in accordance with local legal requirements.' 'Let me be clear: I have no intention of breaking state law or undermining lawful immigration enforcement. My sole aim is to do things the right way — transparently, legally, and in the best interest of the City of Key West,' Henriquez said in the statement.
Miami Herald
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Key West City Commissioners vote to end police agreement with ICE. What's next?
Key West city commissioners have voted to void an agreement between the police department and federal government on illegal immigration enforcement — prompting a threat of punishment from the DeSantis administration. In a 6-1 vote Tuesday, the City Commission said the agreement, which allows police officers to stop, question and detain undocumented immigrants, was not enforceable because it was approved by the police chief and not the city manager by way of elected officials. 'I try not to make decisions with my heart because it can get me into trouble,' said Commissioner Donald Lee, the city's former police chief, who voted to sever the so-called 287(g) agreement, named after a section in the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996. READ MORE: 'Govern yourselves accordingly': Florida goes after city that rejected ICE partnership 'Tonight, I am going to make a decision from my heart, and I hope it doesn't get the city in trouble,' Lee said. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier indicated in a statement released on X Tuesday morning that his office is prepared to take action against the Southernmost City. 'The City of Key West will be hearing from my office very soon,' Uthmeier wrote. In Florida, law enforcement departments that operate county jails must enter partnerships with the federal government so their officers can carry out limited immigration agent functions. State statutes do not explicitly require local and municipal police departments to join these agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as the 287(g) program. But DeSantis and his administration have put pressure on local officials, saying that their departments must join to comply with the state's sanctuary city laws, which prohibit local governments from limiting collaboration with ICE. READ MORE: Bunk beds and 28,000 feet of razor wire. Look inside Florida's Alligator Alcatraz In correspondence, Uthmeier's office has threatened local officials in Orlando and Ft Myers with removal from office if their local governments don't agree to have their police departments join 287(g) agreements. DeSantis Tuesday told reporters at the opening of the new 'Alligator Alcatraz' immigration detention facility in the Everglades that Key West officials could face suspension as a result of not upholding the agreement. READ MORE: It's official: Alligator Alcatraz is not a nickname. It's Florida's name for detention site 'I think the attorney general has weighed in on that, and I'll let him do the analysis and sent them whatever warnings need to be sent. But, the reality is, you have a responsibility for full participation,' DeSantis said. 'And, you can virtue signal and try to make political statements, but the reality is, local governments have to abide by Florida law. Residents and business owners packed City Hall for the meeting to protest the agreement, saying undocumented immigrants who live and work in the city are living in fear already because of ICE agents who have been operating in the Keys since the Trump administration began its mass deportation program earlier this year. Bobi Lore, owner of the Island House Key West Resort on Fleming Street, said 'masked, unnamed, unnumbered and heavily armed' ICE agents are spreading 'terrorism' in the city, and he said local police officers should not be helping them. 'Everybody is afraid. It doesn't matter whether we're talking about immigrants. This is not about immigrants anymore. This is about a deep fear and intimidation practice that is being spread throughout the entire country,' Lore said. 'But for Key West, a place we consider paradise, a place we consider one of the best places on this earth to live, work and be, it's just completely unacceptable.' READ MORE: Do FL cities need to do immigration enforcement? City of South Miami sues to find out Police Chief Sean Brandenburg singed the agreement with ICE in March, he said, because he was told by colleagues in other municipalities that if he didn't, he faced removal of office by the governor. 'It has been made abundantly clear that entering into the 287(g) is the law, and I am trying to follow the law,' Brandenburg told commissioners. Commissioner Samuel Kaufman said he did not know the city had entered into the agreement until last month when a group of business owners told him that their employees have been detained by ICE who have legal status to be in the country, including asylum seekers and those with permanent legal residency, or Green Card holders. They then told him that Key West police entered into the 287(g) agreement. 'No way, I didn't believe it,' Kaufman said, adding later in the meeting, 'Why was I informed by constituents three months after that agreement was put in place? That's just improper.' The meeting held Monday was to terminate the agreement, but Kaufman, who is trial and litigation attorney, changed the resolution, arguing there was nothing to terminate because, in his view, it was not singed by the city manager under the delegation of the city council. 'The agreement is void,' he said. 'So, we don't have to terminate the agreement.' The resolution to end the agreement was approved by Commissioner Monica Haskell, who introduced it, Kaufman, Lee and Commissioners Mary Lou Hoover and Aaron Castillo. Commissioner Lissette Cuervo Carey voted against it. Carey told the Herald having a mother and grandmother who immigrated from Cuba to Key West in the 1950s, she is a supporter of legal immigration, but, 'I believe in upholding and respecting the laws of the State of Florida. As a public servant, I am committed to making decisions that balance compassion, legal integrity, and the best interests of our city.' Carey said she heard from constituents who were concerned about defying the state. 'Having done extensive research on this issue — and after reviewing how similar decisions have affected cities like Fort Myers — I recognized the potential consequences, including the risk of losing critical funding and other repercussions that could significantly impact our city. Based on this understanding, I felt it was important to vote the way I did,' she said. READ MORE: Trump OKs using National Guard as immigration judges at Florida detention center Chris McNulty, executive director of the Queer Keys Community Center, said several of his immigrant friends wanted to speak at the meeting, but were afraid doing so would put them at risk of detention from ICE. And while he said more Key West immigrants speaking out would make a powerful statement, he has been advising them to keep a low profile. 'I love my community, and I love my immigrant friends, and I am pained that they are afraid, and I am actually afraid for my immigrant friends who are not afraid,' McNulty said. Miami Herald immigration reporter Syra Ortiz Blanes contributed to this report.
USA Today
18-06-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
More than 600 local police agencies are partnering with ICE: See if yours is one of them
More than 600 local police agencies are partnering with ICE: See if yours is one of them Following a weekend of nationwide protests and the Army's "Grand Military Parade and Celebration," President Donald Trump directed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to ramp up efforts to detain and deport migrants from large Democratic-run cities including Los Angeles, Chicago and New York. Trump called for the expanded deportation June 15 post on Truth Social. Since Trump took office, the average number of people held in immigration detention centers has increased 25%, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The uptick in detentions comes against a backdrop of a divisive national debate over immigration enforcement. Trump deployed California's National Guard to Los Angeles to quell protests over immigration policies and ICE arrests. California is one of six states with laws preventing local and state agencies from partnering with ICE to enforce federal immigration laws. Under the California Values Act – the state's sanctuary law – state and local police are prohibited from investigating, detaining, or deporting its residents for purposes of immigration enforcement, according to CalMatters. The law does not prevent the federal government from deporting undocumented residents living in California, but rather limits local and state police cooperation with federal immigration officers. More than 600 state and local agencies throughout the country have signed agreements to work with ICE through the 287(g) Program. Depending on the type of agreement, local law enforcement can question inmates about their immigration status, serve warrants or work on task forces. As of early June, there are 629 agreements between local law enforcement and ICE. Agencies in Florida represent 43% of total agreements, followed by Texas with 14%. Which counties are working with ICE? Search below The ICE 287(g) agreements have three models local law enforcement can choose to participate in: Jail Enforcement Model: The model is designed to identify and process undocumented residents – with pending criminal charges – who are arrested by state or local law enforcement agencies. Task Force Model: Allows local law enforcement to enforce limited immigration authority with ICE oversight during their routine police duties. Local agents are supposed to receive 40 hours of online training to participate. Warrant Service Officer program: Allows ICE to train, certify and authorize state and local law enforcement officers to serve and execute administrative warrants on undocumented persons in the agency's jail. How long has the program been around? Local law enforcement have been participating in the 287(g) Program since 2002. The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 authorizes the collaboration between federal immigration authorities and local police agencies. In its beginning years, the program focused on detaining and deporting undocumented immigrants with criminal records, CBS reported. As the program expanded, local agencies began using the partnership to detain as many undocumented immigrants as possible, according to CBS. There were no new agreements made between December 2020 and February 2025 during former President Biden's administration. A record number of state and local agencies have signed onto the program since Trump took office this year. Pushback against the program Critics say the program harms immigrant communities. ProPublica reported that the 287(g) Program has been accused of increasing racial profiling and creating fear among immigrant communities who may be reluctant to report crimes. The program has faced criticism from the federal government as well. A 2018 internal watchdog report from the Department of Homeland Security concluded that the program does not adequately train and supervise local agencies. And a 2021 report from the Government Accountability Office said ICE failed to establish performance goals for the program such as measuring oversight of local law enforcement agency partners, according to the American Immigration Council. An investigation by the Department of Justice found that local law enforcement in North Carolina and Arizona engaged in patterns of constitutional violations after entering an agreement with the 287(g) program. Immigration judges cooperating with ICE: What to know about recent arrests Map: Where anti-ICE, Trump protests have occurred around the US CONTRIBUTING Thao Nguyen, Jeanine Santucci, Pam Dankins, Joey Garrison, Davis Winkie, USA TODAY
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Fact Check: Bill Clinton did not sign law in 1996 allowing deportation without due process
Claim: The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, signed by U.S. President Bill Clinton, allowed deportation without due process. Rating: Social media posts alleged that former U.S. President Bill Clinton's 1996 immigration law allowed the U.S. government to deport noncitizens without due process. The posts referenced the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, which created the "expedited removal" process. While expedited removal permits the deportation of certain noncitizens without a court hearing, it does not eliminate due process protections. The Fifth and 14th amendments of the U.S. Constitution guarantee due process to all people in the United States, including noncitizens, and courts have consistently upheld that expedited removal procedures remain subject to due-process standards. In early May 2025, a claim circulated on social media that in 1996, then-U.S. President Bill Clinton signed an "Immigration Reform Act" that allowed deportation without due process. One Facebook post (archived) with the claim, as of this writing, reached more than 10,000 reactions, 1,200 comments and 11,000 shares. The text on the attached image read, "In 1996 Bill Clinton signed his Immigration Reform Act that stated illegals could be deported without judicial hearings, sooo if this is really about Due Process and the Constitution talk to him…" Additionally, the description of the post stated that in 1996 "Congress specifically authorized the executive branch to conduct non-judicial deportations NOT SUBJECT TO DUE PROCESS." The post continued, "The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) was passed by Bill Clinton, enforced by George W. Bush, and expanded by Barack Obama, with support from both political parties." It later mentioned the act introduced "the expedited removal process." The claim gained attention on social media platforms including Facebook and Instagram. In short, the posts referenced the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, which Clinton signed in 1996. While the law created a legal mechanism called "expedited removal," allowing certain noncitizens to be deported without a court hearing, it did not eliminate due process. For people seeking initial entry into the United States, the Supreme Court has long held that decisions made by immigration officers under powers granted by Congress constitute due process of law. Although fast-track procedures like expedited removal do not involve hearings before a judge, they remain subject to legal constraints and procedural safeguards. Therefore, the claim that Clinton signed a law allowing deportation without due process is false. The IIRIRA, which Clinton signed in 1996, introduced a procedure known as "expedited removal," which refers to a fast-track process that allows U.S. immigration officers to remove certain noncitizens who are "inadmissible because the individual does not possess valid entry documents or is inadmissible for fraud or misrepresentation of material fact." The term also refers to the removal of a noncitizen "who has not been admitted or paroled in the United States and who has not affirmatively shown to the satisfaction of an immigration officer, that the alien had been physically present in the United States for the immediately preceding 2-year period." According to Department of Homeland Security documents, people placed in expedited-removal proceedings "are generally not entitled to immigration proceedings before an immigration judge unless the alien is seeking asylum or makes a claim to legal status in the United States." In those cases, immigration officers must refer the individual for a credible fear interview or to further proceedings to assess the validity of their claim. The expedited removal Clinton introduced did not apply to noncitizens already residing in the interior U.S. However, in 2004, the DHS under then-President George W. Bush expanded the use of expedited removal, allowing immigration officers to deport certain noncitizens without a court hearing if they were apprehended within 14 days of entering the U.S. and found within 100 miles of a land border. Previously, expedited removal had been limited to noncitizens encountered at official ports of entry, such as airports or border crossings. In 2019, the Trump administration removed these time and geographic constraints, allowing DHS to apply expedited removal nationwide to people who could not prove they had been in the U.S. continuously for at least two years, which was the maximum extent permitted under federal law. In 2022, the Biden administration "had rescinded this policy, reverting back to the pre–Trump Administration application of expedited removal." In January 2025, the Trump administration rescinded the Biden-era restrictions on expedited removal and reinstated the broader enforcement guidelines originally implemented in 2019. This shift was introduced through an executive order titled "Protecting the American People Against Invasion." "Due process" is a term with both a specific legal meaning and a broader everyday sense of fairness. In constitutional law, it refers to the government's obligation to follow fair procedures and respect individual rights when taking action that affects a person's life, liberty, or property. The website of Cornell Law School's Legal Information Institute explains that due process (or due process of law) primarily refers to the concept found in the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which says no one shall be "deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law" by the federal government. It also underscored that the 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, used the same eleven words ("nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law"), called the Due Process Clause, to extend this obligation to the states. "These words have as their central promise an assurance that all levels of American government must operate within the law ('legality') and provide fair procedures," the LII article summarized. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, due process can refer to two concepts: procedural due process — a course of formal proceedings (such as legal proceedings) carried out regularly and in accordance with established rules and principles; substantive due process — a judicial requirement that enacted laws may not contain provisions that result in the unfair, arbitrary, or unreasonable treatment of an individual. Another dictionary, Collins, describes it more broadly as "carrying out of the law according to established rules and principles." Although the 1996 law introduced expedited removal, it did not eliminate due-process protections for noncitizens. Katherine Yon Ebright, counsel for the Brennan Center's Liberty and National Security Program, told PolitiFact, a fact-checking organization that also investigated this topic, that in the context of immigration, due process generally refers to "appropriate notice (of government action), the opportunity to have a hearing or some sort of screening interview to figure out, are you actually a person who falls within the law that says that you can be deported." She also noted that "the courts have never said that expedited removal negates migrants [sic] due process rights." According to the Constitution Annotated, which provides a comprehensive overview of how the Constitution has been interpreted over time, the Supreme Court has recognized that "aliens who have physically entered the United States generally come under the protective scope of the Due Process Clause, which applies to all 'persons' within the United States, including aliens, whether their presence here is lawful, unlawful, temporary, or permanent." The website further said that "there are greater due process protections in formal removal proceedings brought against aliens already present within the United States" and explained these protections "generally include the right to a hearing and a meaningful opportunity to be heard before deprivation of a liberty interest." It summarized that the U.S. Supreme Court has indicated that noncitizens present within the United States generally have due-process protections under the Constitution. However, those protections "may depend on certain factors, including whether the alien has been lawfully admitted or developed ties to the United States, and whether the alien has engaged in specified criminal activity." In 2020, the Supreme Court opinion (Page 34) in the case Department of Homeland Security v. Thuraissigiam also mentioned that according to its previous rulings, "Whatever the procedure authorized by Congress is, it is due process as far as an alien denied entry is concerned." Therefore, for noncitizens seeking initial admission to the United States, due process is satisfied so long as the procedures established by Congress are followed. Similarly, Kathleen Bush-Joseph, a lawyer and policy analyst at the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute, told Al Jazeera in mid-May 2025 that "although expedited removal and the Alien Enemies Act limit people's due process protections, they do not eliminate them." She clarified, "There are no exceptions to due process." Internet users also shared claim about the alleged lack of due process in deportation procedures with regard to the number of noncitizens removed from the country under former U.S. presidents. One X post (archived) on the topic claimed that during the Obama administration "75% of illegals deported received NO Due Process." Other posts (archived) claimed "Bill Clinton deported 12 million illegals during his presidency -- AND 93% of those aliens were deported WITHOUT a [FORMAL PROCEEDING AKA] 'due process' hearing." The posts likely referred to the proportion of removals carried out through summary processes, such as expedited removals, reinstated removals or returns. While these procedures do not involve court hearings, they are still subject to due-process protections. In early May 2025 we investigated the related claim that, during the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama, immigration authorities deported more than 3 million people, 75% to 83% of whom did not see a judge or have the opportunity to plead their case. In another article, we examined how deportation figures during Trump's first term compared to those under previous presidents. "8 U.S. Code § 1225 - Inspection by Immigration Officers; Expedited Removal of Inadmissible Arriving Aliens; Referral for Hearing." LII / Legal Information Institute, American Immigration Council. "Expedited Removal Explainer." American Immigration Council, 3 Feb. 2017, Christensen, Laerke, and Nick Hardinges. "Comparing Deportations under Trump's First Term to Past Presidents." Snopes, 14 Feb. 2025, "Definition of Due Process." HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 2 June 2025, Accessed 5 June 2025. "Designating Aliens for Expedited Removal." Federal Register, 11 Aug. 2004, Accessed 5 June 2025. "Designating Aliens for Expedited Removal." Federal Register, 23 July 2019, "Designating Aliens for Expedited Removal." Federal Register, 24 Jan. 2025, "Fourteenth Amendment Section 1 | Constitution Annotated | | Library of Congress." "H. Rept. 104-828 - ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION REFORM and IMMIGRANT RESPONSIBILITY ACT of 1996." 24 Sept. 1996, Jazeera, Al. "Is Due Process Different for Undocumented Immigrants as Trump Claims?" Al Jazeera, 11 May 2025, "Katherine Yon Ebright." Brennan Center for Justice, 19 Feb. 2025, "Questions and Answers: Credible Fear Screening | USCIS." 31 May 2022, "Removal of Aliens Who Have Entered the United States | Constitution Annotated | | Library of Congress." 2020, "Removal of Aliens Who Have Entered the United States | Constitution Annotated | | Library of Congress." 2020, Accessed 5 June 2025. "Rescission of the Notice of July 23, 2019, Designating Aliens for Expedited Removal." Federal Register, 21 Mar. 2022, Accessed 5 June 2025. Simanski, John. Office of Immigration Statistics Immigration Enforcement Actions: 2013. Simanski, John, and Lesley Sapp. Office of Immigration Statistics Immigration Enforcement Actions: 2012. Strauss, Peter. "Due Process." Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, 2022, SUPREME COURT of the UNITED STATES. 2019, SUPREME COURT of the UNITED STATES. 2019, Trump, Donald. "Protecting the American People against Invasion." The White House, 20 Jan. 2025, Uribe, Maria Ramirez. "Are Fast-Track Deportations an Exception to Due Process?" @Politifact, 2024, Accessed 5 June 2025. ---. "Are Fast-Track Deportations an Exception to Due Process?" @Politifact, 2024, Webster, Merriam. "Definition of DUE PROCESS." 2019, Wrona, Aleksandra. "US Deported More than 3M People during Obama Presidency. Most Did Not Have Chance to Plead Case in Court." Snopes, 4 May 2025,
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Tennessee Republican lawmakers urge local police to work with ICE, help with deportations
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Some Tennessee Republicans are urging every local and state law enforcement agency to enter into a 287(g) agreement with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to help the federal government in its effort to deport illegal immigrants. A 287(g) agreement gives local law enforcement officers certain federal powers that allow them to detain and investigate undocumented immigrants. 'The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 added Section 287(g) to the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) — authorizing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to delegate to state and local law enforcement officers the authority to perform specified immigration officer functions under the agency's direction and oversight,' ICE's website reads. Rep. Lee Reeves (R-Franklin) called upon all agencies in Tennessee to enter into the agreement Monday. 'We need more than strong words. We need local action as well, so to every police chief, every sheriff, every mayor, every county commissioner, now is the time to enter into a 287(g) agreement with ICE. It's a simple partnership that lets local law officers identify and detain criminal illegal aliens. It's legal, it works, and it will save lives.' According to ICE, eight Tennessee agencies currently have a 287(g) agreement. The majority of the agencies are sheriff's offices, in addition to the TN Dept. of Homeland Security and THP. Three additional state agencies currently have pending 287(g) applications, according to ICE. During a special legislative session in January, lawmakers passed a bill incentivizing departments to participate in the program by offering grants to those who take part. 'This legislation further appropriated $20 million to facilitate participation in the 287g program to make our brave men and women even more effective in that partnership,' Senate Majority Leader, Jack Johnson (R-Franklin) said. Congressman Andy Ogles confirms federal investigation into Nashville mayor's office over illegal immigration A bill that would have required all law enforcement agencies to take part in the program failed during the regular legislative session. Some immigrant rights groups worry that the more departments work with ICE, the more harm it could cause. 'What we have seen time and time again with programs like the 287(g) program is the erroding of trust between our immigrant communities and local law enforcement, the siphoning away of local taxpayer dollars for civil rights lawsuits, racial profiling, and we have seen this not only here in the past in Nashville, but across the state of Tennessee,' Luis Mata with the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition said. Davidson County ended its 287(g) agreement with ICE in 2012 following controversy and a lawsuit over the handling of a pregnant woman who gave birth while shackled in county custody. It's unclear if the agency plans to enter into a new contract with ICE. However, Republican lawmakers told reporters the 287(g) agreement saves lives. ⏩ 'This isn't about politics, it's about protecting our families,' Rep. Reeves said. 'It's not about immigration, it's about crime. It's not a border crisis, it is a community crisis.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
