WASHINGTON: The United States Department of Homeland Security announced it will pay state and local law enforcement officers’ salaries and benefits in jurisdictions that join a federal immigration cooperation program.
This offer, effective from October 1, will additionally provide up to 25% of an officer’s salary for overtime costs and performance-based bonuses to participating agencies.
President Donald Trump’s administration seeks to deport record numbers of undocumented immigrants through intensified nationwide enforcement efforts.
The Republican-controlled Congress approved a spending package in July allocating $75 billion to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement over approximately four years.
This funding increase will enable ICE to significantly expand its operational capacity across the country.
The administration has actively expanded 287(g) immigration enforcement partnerships with state and local agencies, increasing their number from 135 to 958 since Trump took office.
Immigrant advocacy groups argue these agreements create distrust between law enforcement and immigrant communities while potentially encouraging racial profiling.
These partnerships operate under the Task Force Model program that was discontinued during Barack Obama’s presidency but reinstated during Trump’s second term.
This model permits state and local law enforcement to make immigration arrests while conducting their regular policing duties.
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights described this model as the most dangerous and invasive form of immigration enforcement in a June fact sheet.
A 2012 Justice Department investigation found North Carolina sheriffs illegally stopped and detained Latino drivers under this program.
Nayna Gupta from the American Immigration Council stated that involving local police in immigration work reduces their focus on genuine public safety threats while making immigrants fearful of reporting actual crimes. – Reuters
