Maria Matos is the executive director of the Latin American Community Center in Wilmington.
In 24 hours, Delaware went from learning that its first municipality had signed a formal agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to that same town rescinding the agreement, following widespread community dissent. Camden’s swift reversal is a testament to the many Delawareans who immediately took action in defense of their neighbors and loved ones, pushing its leadership to reconsider. Now that Camden has canceled its agreement, we need statewide elected officials to act now to ban all 287(g) agreements in Delaware.
Much was at stake if Camden persisted with its 287(g) agreement. Essentially, these contracts deputize local police to enforce immigration laws during the course of their normal work, such as traffic stops, responses to 911 calls or other interactions with the public, much like the “Brownshirts” did in Germany. These agreements have proliferated since President Donald Trump took office in January, tripling to nearly 600 across the country today.
287(g) agreements undermine the important work of local police because they sow greater distrust between law enforcement and immigrant communities. Immigrants are already more likely to be victims of crime because they are often in vulnerable legal situations and do not feel empowered to report crime to local law enforcement. By agreeing to join ICE’s immigration enforcement ranks, local police simply exacerbate that distrust and make it even less likely that victims and witnesses to crime will come forward and cooperate.
Over the years that 287(g) agreements have been in place, there have been multiple studies showing that they lead to greater race profiling and civil rights violations. In 287(g) jurisdictions, courts have found that people of color were profiled because they “looked like they were immigrants” due to their skin color, regardless of their immigration status. In addition, local law enforcement is often not trained to understand various immigration laws and statuses, increasing the likelihood that people who are documented immigrants may be detained wrongfully.
Since January, there have been multiple stories of innocent people accosted, profiled, detained and even deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. These individuals have been documented immigrants, asylum seekers, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program recipients and even U.S. citizens. With such a shoddy system, in which ICE has wrongfully and illegally trapped people in its web, often without due process, it is fortunate that Camden police no longer wish to associate themselves with President Trump’s deportation machine.
287(g) agreements are also costly because they require local law enforcement to expend resources on immigration enforcement without any reimbursement or funding from ICE. With police resources already scarce in many towns across Delaware, such agreements divert limited funds and capacity away from core local police duties.
While I am thankful that Camden police have pulled back from their 287(g) agreement, it is a warning that we must take proactive steps to avoid this happening again. With scores of municipalities throughout Delaware, it is very possible that another town could enter into a 287(g) agreement. And there is no guarantee that community outcry will dissuade future cities from partnering with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The most important step that elected officials can take now is to join the ranks of states like New Jersey, Connecticut and Illinois, and ban local municipalities and state entities from entering into 287(g) agreements. Otherwise, Delawareans could continue to be subject to the whims of various cities’ and towns’ decisions about partnering with ICE. A statewide ban would ensure that local police departments are able to maintain their focus on building positive relationships with immigrant communities and protecting public safety, while also confirming that Delaware police do not become complicit in the federal government’s mass deportation machine.
Beyond banning 287(g) agreements, over 10 pro-immigrant rights bills are currently pending in the state legislature to protect sensitive locations like courts, schools and health care facilities from dragnet ICE operations; to block immigration officers from mining private data of immigrants from state databases; and to maintain educational programs for children of migrant farmworkers.
Delawareans showed our values by speaking up for immigrant communities who could have been targeted by Camden’s 287(g) agreement. Now, we need our elected officials to affirm those values once again by banning these agreements statewide and passing all the pending legislation that would protect our immigrant friends, families and neighbors.
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
