June 2, 2010

DHS Report Exposes Abuses in State and Local Immigration Enforcement

On April 1, 2010 the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General issued a comprehensive report confirming civil rights abuses in Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) 287(g) program, a federal program that permits state and local law enforcement agencies to arrest individuals for the sole purpose of identifying whether they have lawful immigration status. The report, which was based on field inspections in the first six months of 2009, notes that many of the arrested individuals were not cited for any criminal offenses and in some cases were even victims of criminal offenses.

According to the Inspector General, some local police have launched operations with the aim of detaining individuals for minor offenses and violations of local ordinances for the purpose of identifying unauthorized immigrants. Police apprehended immigrants even when they had no prior arrests on state or local charges. The report confirms that officers arrest individuals for minor offenses.  In one case, a supervisor recounted how a state highway patrol officer transported an accident victim to a jail to determine the victim's immigration status.  The officer did not take him to a hospital. The victim was not even brought to the jail to be charged with a state crime. The sole --and improper-- purpose of the officer's actions was to determine whether the victim was deportable.

Through agreements signed with nearly 60 state and county police forces, the federal program allows local officers to question immigrants about their legal status and detain them for deportation. The report acknowledges that state and local police officers who participate in the program are not adequately screened, trained or supervised. The lack of training and little oversight from federal agents lead to the violation of many immigrants’ civil rights and significant enforcement inconsistencies from place to place.

The report also noted that Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) failed to provide accurate information about the program to Congress and the public. In July 2009, ICE officials acknowledged widespread criticism of the program and asked all participating law enforcement agencies to sign new agreements that clarified its goals.