POSITIONS
ICE
During the first Trump administration I was serving as Captain of Investigations at the Sheriff’s Office on the Sheriff’s command staff. An ICE official presented the 287(g) program to the Sheriff and captains. This program is a cooperative agreement which gives deputy sheriff’s the ability to help ICE enforce federal immigration law.
My background is in investigations, so I pay attention to the words people use. The ICE official kept referring to the people they were detaining or transporting as “bodies.” The language he was using made it clear to me he did not see them as people. I recommended not joining the agreement to the Sheriff and the Sheriff ultimately did not join.
I will not join a 287(g) agreement with ICE. I recognize the federal government has a legitimate interest in enforcing immigration law, but the way an agency enforces the law matters. I’m trying to build relationships and trust within this community. ICE is clearly not working to build trust, and I will not partner with them.
Where required by law, I will follow the law. Where cooperation is voluntary, I see no advantage to using our resources to work as an enforcement agency for ICE.