The collaboration between state and local police with the office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been under constant scrutiny, due to the abuses against immigrants reported by activists, but a new report from the American Liberties Union Civil Rights (ACLU) reveals the prevailing racism under the program 287(g).
The report states that in 2017, Gerardo Martínez-Morales was driving to a doctor’s office when sheriff’s deputies detained him in Galveston County, Texas.
“One week later, the father of four children and the grandfather of three children who lived in the US for more than two decades was deported to Mexico,” says the report. “The reason given for the traffic stop that caused him to be separated from his US citizen family? A broken taillight.”
The ACLU report indicates that the 287(g) program, named after a section of the 1996 Immigration and Nationality Act, allows local law enforcement agencies to detain immigrants, investigate that person’s immigration status, and hold them for transfer to ICE detention.
“The result is that even the smallest interactions with local law enforcement can lead to detention, deportation and separation from their families”, indicates the report entitled “License to abuse: how ICE’s 287(g) program empowers racist sheriffs”.
Research reveals that racial discrimination, poor prison conditions and other civil rights violations are a constant among the 142 state and local law enforcement agencies with which ICE has agreements as of April 2022.
“In a new investigative report, the ACLU found that dozens of sheriffs under the 287(g) have a history of racism, abuse and violence”, it is exposed. “Our analysis reveals that most local partners have documented incidents of civil rights violations and other abuses… and makes it clear that xenophobia is at the very heart of the program.”
El The report highlights that this type of agreement multiplied by five under the anti-immigration policies of former President Donald Trump, but the current government has maintained most of these agreements from 152 to 142 in more than one year.