Are the 287(g) Agreements Any Better in the Obama Administration?

 
State and local enforcement of federal immigration laws has generated considerable controversy in public policy circles in recent years, particularly with respect to the Section 287(g) program. The program, which authorizes state, county, and local law enforcement agencies to enforce federal immigration law under agreement with the federal government, has grown and evolved tremendously since created by statute in 1996.

The 287(g) program aims to expand the federal government's enforcement capacities while enabling law enforcement agencies to respond directly to local concerns regarding illegal immigration. At the same time, critics have charged that policing practices associated with the program have undermined community trust in law enforcement, led to arrests based on minor infractions, and given rise to racial profiling.

In July 2009, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that the Obama administration would continue -- but reform -- the program, which had grown rapidly during the second term of the Bush administration. At the heart of the Obama administration's approach to the program is a new standardized memorandum of agreement that will govern all future Section 287(g) collaborations. Today, the Migration Policy Institute's National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy is releasing a report, A Program in Flux: New Priorities and Implementation Challenges for 287(g), which examines how the new standardized agreement (signed to date by 66 jurisdictions) differs from the earlier 287(g) agreements -- finding that some aspects may address criticisms of the program, while others could complicate implementation.

The report also details a research agenda for determining whether the 287(g) program generates greater benefits than costs and is worth maintaining. The report identifies the crucial factors that must be considered as US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and its law enforcement agency partners implement the new memorandum of agreement. And, it discusses the research and field work that MPI and the New York University School of Law will be undertaking with respect to the 287(g) program.

To read the report online, visit http://www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/287g-March2010.pdf

KJ