The Trump administration has teamed up with Sheriffs of a similar political bent around the US to create a scheme that will allow undocumented immigrants to be channeled into federal detention straight from local jails. The move could see a vast expansion of the dragnet already transforming the nation’s immigration enforcement.
The plan is to circumvent decisions that have limited the role local law enforcement can play in the immigration enforcement made by courts, with the use of requests made to police departments or local Sheriffs by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), known as ‘detainers’. Many so-called ‘sanctuary cities’ refuse to honor such detainers because of their political ideology. But, some Sheriffs, otherwise sympathetic to the Trump administration, have also rejected these because the courts found them to be in violation of the Fourth Amendment.
The new scheme would protect Sheriffs from such, often costly, legal battles by essentially making them contractors for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Some legal immigrant advocates claim it is unlikely that the practice would much alter the way such actions are viewed by the courts. A spokeswoman for ICE says a final decision on the plan has not yet been made, and that it remains under review.
The plan would represent a big step forward for the centerpiece of President Donald Trump’s desire to marry federal and local law enforcement, a move that immigrant advocates have attempted to prevent at every turn.