Earlier this year, New York State enacted the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act aimed at keeping local law enforcement clear of involvement with the highly controversial federal immigration enforcement. As the NY Civil Liberties Union noted when the bill was first introduced, this is an important step toward realizing what advocates have urged in the New York for All Campaign.
The law was passed, and as Shamier Settle noted in an earlier blog post, Attorney General Leticia James notified local law enforcement agencies of their legal obligation to end what are known as “287 (g) agreements” with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) by August 25. These agreements are in violation of the new law, since they obligate the agencies to work with ICE on immigration enforcement. Right on cue, at the end of August 15, New York State sheriffs filed a federal lawsuit challenging the state law. The counties included in the lawsuit are Broome, Wayne, St. Lawrence, Madison, Cattaraugus, Orange, Jefferson, Saratoga, Lewis, Franklin, Delaware, Fulton, Oswego, Cayuga and Rensselaer.
Despite what these sheriffs say, however, 287(g) agreements and collaboration with ICE do not make communities safer. In fact, they make communities less safe.
Collaboration with ICE erodes public trust. 287(g) agreements make people reluctant to report crimes, serve as witnesses, obtain assistance from police, and cooperate with investigations due to concern about immigration enforcement. This leads to a decline in public safety in communities and neighborhoods and erodes trust that law enforcement officers heavily rely on.
287(g) agreements are harmful to all communities of color, not just immigrants. If local law enforcement officers are tasked with identifying immigrants for immigration enforcement, this can lead to increased racial profiling of communities of color. In fact, the Supreme Court refused to prevent ICE from racial profiling in a recent case in Los Angeles.
Family stability is threatened by 287(g) agreements. There is a “chilling effect” associated with local law enforcement’s collaboration with ICE. If people do not feel free to interact with law enforcement, people may not access healthcare services, they may remove their children from school, avoid going to work, and endure financial hardships because they avoid government services to which they are entitled.
Limited resources should be spent on local communities. Having 287(g) agreements diverts public resources from the community to immigration enforcement. Counties may already have strained budgets and adding immigration enforcement would exacerbate the strains.
What’s clear is: New York State does not gain from collaborating with ICE. The negative impact of 287(g) agreements extends beyond immigration policy—these agreements negatively affect the health, stability, safety and economic vitality of entire communities.
To learn more about the harms of 287(g) agreements:
American Immigration Council – 287(g) Agreements With ICE Threaten Welcoming Communities
Center for American Progress – How 287(g) Agreements Harm Public Safety