A statewide coalition of civil rights advocates launched a petition Tuesday expressing opposition to contracts between local police forces and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The petition targets ICE’s 287(g) program, which authorizes state and local law enforcement officers to carry out duties of an immigration enforcement agent, according to the agency’s website.
Over 2,000 state and local police agencies have agreed to partner with ICE under the program, including 27 in New Hampshire. The Carroll Police Department, which joined the 287(g) program last July, has paid the salaries of all four of its full-time police officers with funds from the Department of Homeland Security, as originally reported by WIRED.
Christine Wellington, a retired legal services attorney and member of the petition campaign, said grassroots mobilizations against ICE have been successful in New Hampshire, resulting in scrapped plans to build an immigrant processing center in Merrimack.
Outcry against the 287(g) agreements hasn’t been as successful.
“It’s been a bit discouraging,” said Wellington, who has worked with immigrants across her entire legal career and is now a part of the New Hampshire Immigrants’ Rights Network. “You can see why somebody might be tempted to join because there’s a bonus, even though there’s a big trade-off. Our bottom line is this harms communities, it breaks trust, it makes people afraid of law enforcement.”
Three models exist under the 287(g) program. The jail enforcement model allows authorities to identify and process non-citizens who have criminal charges; the warrant service model certifies officers to perform administrative immigration warrants on people already in custody; and the task force model authorizes officers to enforce immigration laws during their regular police duties.
All 27 New Hampshire police forces under the 287(g) program are enlisted in the task force model. No other police force in New England, besides Massachusetts’s Department of Corrections, is under a 287(g) agreement.
Wellington said she has seen growing concern around the issue from residents of various parts of the state. She said she hopes a network of advocates will coalesce around the petition.
“[People] might look and ask as to why little towns or medium-sized towns or whatever are footing the bill to train their officers to do law that is not within the scope of their duties to their communities,” she said.
Petition organizers are planning to run a drive through Sept. 30. The petition can be viewed at www.mascomaforward.com/ice-petition.
