Weakening the deportation pipeline by encouraging local law enforcement agencies to terminate their 287(G) agreements: local strategies grounded in administrative and moral implications

• Author: Erin Griffard
• Position: J.D. Candidate, Georgetown University Law Center, 2022; Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, Latin American Studies and Community Health, Tufts University, 2014
• Pages: 1087-1112

WEAKENING THE DEPORTATION PIPELINE BY

ENCOURAGING LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT

AGENCIES TO TERMINATE THEIR 287(G)

AGREEMENTS: LOCAL STRATEGIES GROUNDED

IN ADMINISTRATIVE AND MORAL

IMPLICATIONS

ERIN GRIFFARD*

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1088

II. BACKGROUND ON THE 287(G) PROGRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1089

A. Nuts and Bolts of 287(g) Agreements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1089

B. Historical Background on 287(g) Agreements .......... 1093

1. 287(g) Agreements under the Trump Administration. . 1094

2. 287(g) Agreements in the Biden Era ............. 1095

III. 287(G) AGREEMENTS ARE INHERENTLY UNJUST, INEFFECTIVE,

AND ANTI-IMMIGRANT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1098

A. 287(g) Agreements Encourage and Allow Deputized Local

Law Enforcement Agents to Violate Civil Rights and Civil

Liberties with Impunity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1098

B. Racial Profiling Pursuant to 287(g) Agreements Fosters

Distrust between Law Enforcement and Communities,

Making Communities Less Safe .................... 1101

C. 287(g) Agreements Are Part of the Deportation Pipeline

and Lead to Deportations for Minor Criminal Offenses. . . 1101

* J.D. Candidate, Georgetown University Law Center, 2022; Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, Latin

American Studies and Community Health, Tufts University, 2014. I would like to thank Professor Christy

Lopez for her support and feedback on this Note, as well as Tali Ginsburg from Never Again Action and

Elizabeth Zambrana from the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights for their insights. © 2022, Erin

Griffard.

1087

D. 287(g) Agreements Are Not Cost Effective and Expose

Jurisdictions to Increased Liability for Civil Rights

Violations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1103

IV. FLIPPING THE ADVOCACY STRATEGY ON ITS HEAD: ENCOURAGING

LOCAL AGENCIES TO TERMINATE THEIR 287(G) AGREEMENTS. . . . . . 1104

A. Strategies for Persuading Localities Concerned Primarily

about the Administrative and Financial Challenges of the

287(g) Program: Costs, Liability Exposure, and Labor

Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1106

1. The High Cost of 287(g) Agreements for Localities. . . 1106

B. Labor and Staffing Arguments to Persuade Agencies to

Terminate 287(g) Agreements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1108

C. Strategies Grounded in the Moral Argument against 287(g)

Agreements: Electing Progressive Sheriffs and

Ameliorating Impacts in the Interim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1109

1. Electing Progressive Sheriffs in 287(g) Counties. . . . . 1109

2. Ameliorating the Impacts of 287(g) Agreements during

the Long Fight Ahead ........................ 1111

V. CONCLUSION ...................................... 1111

I. INTRODUCTION

The 287(g) program allows U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

(ICE) to deputize local law enforcement agencies with the authority to

enforce immigration laws and regulations. The program has had devastating

impacts on immigrant communities and is a critical component of the “depor-

tation pipeline” partly responsible for family separation. Despite widespread

evidence that the program is inherently flawed, the Biden administration has

not ended 115 agreements executed by the Trump administration, a Biden

campaign promise that was apparently hollow. ICE and local agencies escape

accountability under the 287(g) program and are permitted, if not encour-

aged, to engage in racial profiling, to identify undocumented immigrants for

deportation based on minor criminal offenses, and to separate families.

Additionally, the program has repeatedly failed to achieve its stated goal of

increasing community safety, an argument that was born out of anti-

immigrant rhetoric and the harmful myth that immigrants are inherently

more dangerous than citizens. Although significant advocacy is underway

to encourage the Biden administration to unilaterally end the 287(g) program,

the termination of the program seems unlikely to occur.

A survey of successful strategies implemented at the local level reveals

key insights on the fight to end 287(g). First, local agencies are likely to

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