Over the last eight months in New York State alone, local law enforcement agencies have signed nine partnership agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under the federal 287(g) program, encompassing six counties. The number of such agreements has exploded nationwide this year, with a total of 958 covering 40 states.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers during a series of “targeted enforcement operations” in 2017. (Flickr/ICE)
One of the main strategies President Donald Trump has pursued to carry out his mass deportation plan in his second term is to “flood the zone” with a slew of policy changes, executive actions, and a growing number of immigration enforcement agents.
New Yorkers have seen all of these, from courthouse arrests to policies restricting immigrant households’ access to benefits and programs.
Now, new 287(g) agreements—in which local law enforcement agencies volunteer to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)—must be added to this strategy.
Over the last eight months, as of Sept. 5, nine such Memorandums of Agreement have been signed in New York State alone, encompassing six counties. As a result, thousands of New York immigrants have been detained by ICE.
Named after a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act, this agreement allows state and local law enforcement agencies to perform the duties of immigration officers under three specific models of 287(g) agreements, each with unique functions and powers:
The Warrant Service Officer Model—dubbed “287(g)-lite”—allows officers to execute ICE administrative warrants on individuals in the agency’s jails.
The Jail Enforcement Model enables officers to screen individuals in state and local custody for immigration violations and place them into immigration proceedings.
The Task Force Model enables officers to conduct immigration arrests while performing their regular police duties.
This level of cooperation, ICE claims, “enhances the safety and security of our nation’s communities,” though advocates say the arrangements erode trust between communities and local governments.
City Limits reached out to all local law enforcement agencies involved in such deals, requesting figures on arrests and detentions under 287(g), but most did not provide specific data.
The number of such agreements has exploded nationwide this year, with a total of 958 covering 40 states, according to ICE. Tied for 15th place, New York has the same number of agreements as states such as Indiana and Wyoming.
ICE could reach 1,000 agreements in the coming months if the trend continues, as there are 31 pending 287(g) program applications as of Sept. 5, according to the agency.
All of New York’s current agreements are in counties outside the five boroughs, as New York City has a number of “sanctuary city” policies in place that limit how government agencies can interact with immigration enforcement.
Earlier this year, after meeting with Trump’s Border Czar Tom Homan, Mayor Eric Adams tried to once again authorize the presence of ICE federal agents on Rikers Island “to investigate criminal activity,” issuing an executive order in April signed by First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro. ICE agents had previously been kicked out of the city jail complex through an executive order a decade ago.
Days later, the City Council challenged Adams’ executive order in court, citing illegality, violations of local sanctuary laws, and saying allowing ICE at Rikers would erode trust between communities and city government. The Council considered the mayor’s action an attempt to appease the Trump administration after the president dropped a federal corruption investigation into the mayor.
On June 13, State Supreme Court Justice Mary Rosado sided with the Council, barring ICE from reopening an office on Rikers Island indefinitely.
City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams at a rally in April to oppose the return of ICE agents to Rikers Island. (John McCarten/NYC Council Media Unit)
ICE expansion in New York State
The situation outside city limits, however, is different.
For years, the Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Office was the only office in New York with a signed agreement with ICE.
But that’s changed this year. Back in February, the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office became the first law enforcement agency to sign a new agreement with ICE, introducing a Warrant Service Officer program. According to local advocates, the program has sparked protests and raised concerns about community member safety.
“We’re seeing a lot of ICE raids happening in Westbury,” said Luba Cortés, civil rights and immigration lead organizer of Make the Road New York, referencing a June incident where a group of ICE agents were spotted outside a local school.
“That sends the wrong tone to community members, right, like why is there massive enforcement right in front of an elementary school?” Cortés added. “So the optics of this are really concerning.”
There have been protests outside of the office of the county executive, Bruce Blakeman, a long-shot candidate for governor and a Trump ally.
In July, a Newsday investigation found that over 1,400 immigrants had been held, and 50 local jail cells set aside for ICE, as part of a Warrant Service Officer agreement signed by the county sheriff, one of the arrangements available under 287(g) that allows local police to transfer detainees to ICE custody.
In March, the Nassau County Police Department (NCPD) signed the most aggressive type of 287(g) agreement: the Task Force Model, which expands local police’s powers to participate in federal immigration enforcement activities while performing routine police duties. According to ICE, this involves training local law enforcement officers in immigration law, multicultural communication, and how to avoid racial profiling.
A spokesperson from the NCPD said 10 agreement-trained Nassau County detectives are available to work with ICE, though no arrests have been made under the arrangement so far. The spokesperson said those detectives received online training through ICE, but didn’t specify what it entailed.
In June, the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), Latino Justice PRLDEF, and the Hofstra Law Clinic sued Nassau County, marking the first lawsuit against a 287(g) agreement in New York State.
The defendants are representing two Long Island residents, as well as three local nonprofits that work with immigrant communities: the Diocese of Long Island, Central American Refugee Center (CARECEN), and HAFALI.
Jessica Greenberg, CARECEN’s legal director, said the community is particularly fearful, leading to reduced trust in law enforcement and reluctance to call for help when something goes wrong.
“There’s been an increase in individuals who are too scared to call the police, who are in domestic violence situations. People are too scared to even call an ambulance,” Greenberg said.
An NCPD spokesperson, however, said the department has “not seen a change in 911 calls” and that local police “continue to have positive interactions with our residents in all of our communities.”
But the Nassau County Office of Hispanic Affairs, a county government department that connects the Hispanic community with county resources, admits there has been pushback.
“Some residents express concern and fear, particularly among immigrant families, citing past experiences or perceptions of profiling. Others see it as a necessary step toward enhancing public safety,” said Herb Flores, executive director of the office.
“No one should hesitate to seek help, especially if they are victims of a crime. The safety and well-being of every resident is our priority, regardless of immigration status,” Flores added, assuring that officers won’t ask about someone’s immigration status “particularly if they are victims of a crime or in an emergency.”
Out of the 10 agreements with ICE in the state, four are Task Force programs and five are Warrant Service Officer programs. Only one of these, the oldest one, signed in 2020 with the Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Office, is a Jail Enforcement Model, which allows officers to interrogate migrants in jail.
In Camden, an Oneida County village in central New York, the Police Department joined ICE’s Task Force Model program in July, just a week after ICE arrested the owner of a longtime Chinese-American restaurant.
Camden Chief of Police Sean Redden said via email that “this program is relatively new to me and I do not know enough about it to comment.”
The Broome County Sheriff’s Office, the Madison County Sheriff’s Office, the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office, and the Steuben County Sheriff’s Office—which signed the most recent agreement—did not respond to City Limits’ requests for comment.
In April, the Broome County Sheriff’s office said 88 migrants had been held in jail since February. Advocates in the area, located in the state’ Southern Tier region, said the number had climbed to about 140 immigrants by July.
Andrew Pragacz, president of Justice and Unity in the Southern Tier (JUST), said his organization’s members have been visiting the jail for almost a decade. This year, he noticed more people starting to arrive.
“I was able to go visit one guy, who is now deported to Guatemala,” Pragacz said, adding that he was trying to see what conditions migrants were being held in, but many were quickly moved to other facilities.
A 2019 rally against ICE activity in New York City. (John McCarten/NYC Council)
Local advocates in these counties are reigniting the call for a statewide ban on government cooperation with ICE. For several years, state lawmakers have introduced versions of the New York For All, a bill that would limit state and local officers from enforcing federal immigration laws, but it has yet to pass.
Neighboring states such as New Jersey, Connecticut, and Delaware are among the few with no active ICE agreements, some after similar statewide bans.
Earlier this year, ICE’s arrests, raids, and disruptions in immigrant communities across the state seemed to have built enough momentum for the legislature to pass New York for All by the end of session in June. The bill even got the support of nine New York Congress members, but it didn’t pass.
“We really just want people to focus on New York for All as a campaign that would protect our state and end these 287(g) agreements,” Cortés said. “Tom Homan has made it very clear that New York is going to be a target, and it’s up to the state to step in and protect individuals.”
To reach the reporter behind this story, contact Daniel@citylimits.org. To reach the editor, contact Jeanmarie@citylimits.org
Want to republish this story? Find City Limits’ reprint policy here.
The post Local Police Agreements With ICE Have Exploded in New York—and Nationwide appeared first on City Limits.
