Donald Trump’s plan to launch the largest deportation operation in US history as soon as he takes office relies on a key ally: conservative sheriffs.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) employs approximately 6,000 federal immigration agents, but the incoming administration is relying on sympathetic local law enforcement to serve as its eyes and ears in communities and jails nationwide.
Police chiefs are chosen by the governor, but sheriffs are usually elected by the people and have a lot of power, such as running the jails in their counties.
Many sheriffs who lean to the right, whose political views are similar to those of the new administration, are eager to work together.
Chuck Jenkins, the Republican sheriff of Maryland’s Frederick County, recently told The Wall Street Journal, “I am ready to back the president with all my heart.” “I want to do more while following the law.”
He told the paper, “We are going to be in the business again.” Richard Jones is the sheriff of Butler County, Ohio.
The rebellious “constitutional sheriff” movement is also likely to back Trump.
This movement is made up of local, usually right-wing sheriffs who think they are the only ones who can say what is legal and constitutional in their areas, even if state or federal laws or Supreme Court decisions say otherwise.
These sheriffs have been strong supporters of Trump’s claims that the election was rigged, and they broke Covid rules when the pandemic was at its worst.
The soon-to-be president has talked about his support for sheriffs and his alliance with them in a recent post on Truth Social.
During his political rise, Trump has tried to connect himself with strict local sheriffs who crack down on immigration. One example is Joe Arpaio, the famous but now-former sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona.
In 2017, Trump released Arpaio from a civil rights lawsuit that said he stopped and detained Latino constituents because he thought they might be breaking immigration laws, even if they hadn’t. For not following a 2011 court order to stop these stops, Arpaio was found guilty of contempt of court.
Governors of Trump-supporting states have also taken on the responsibility of enforcing immigration laws, even though this is usually the federal government’s job.
Texas has said that immigrants are literally “invading” the state to support its big new plans. It has spent billions on Operation Lone Star, which has sent more state troopers to the border and built walls and other barriers along the border with Mexico.
Arizona passed Proposition 314 this election season. It made illegal immigration a state crime in addition to a federal crime and gave state police and courts the power to deport people.
Local sheriffs have worked with federal immigration officials on programs like the 287(g) system during both Republican and Democratic administrations.
They share information with federal officials, serve ICE warrants, and in some cases start the deportation process themselves as part of 287(g) agreements. Sheriffs check the immigration status of inmates.
Some groups, like the ACLU, say that these kinds of partnerships are “permission to abuse” because they let police target people they think are illegal immigrants because of the color of their skin or the language they speak.
The group looked at the more than 140 local law enforcement agencies that were part of the program as of 2022 and found that at least 65% of the sheriffs had a history of “racist and anti-immigrant rhetoric” and 59% had a history of “racial profiling and other civil rights violations, including excessive use of force.”
One of these places was Frederick County, where a Latina woman won a lawsuit saying that deputies had stopped her for a broken tail light when there was not one and questioned her about her immigration status.
Some people say that when local police work with immigration officials, it makes the public less safe because it makes immigrants and people from minority groups afraid to talk to police or other government offices for fear of being deported.
This month, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu told WCVB, “The last thing we want is for people who are part of our economy, part of our school system, part of our community, and part of the fabric of our city to feel like they have to hide out of sight.”
Since 2014, the city has had a law that says local police can not use their resources to enforce immigration laws for minor offenses. However, they can work together on immigration issues involving criminal charges like drug or people trafficking.
Boston is one of many cities and towns across the country that are considered “sanctuary cities” and do not work with federal immigration agents.
There have been rumors that the Trump administration could cut off federal grants to sanctuary cities and states as part of its plan to crack down on them.
Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, said he would jail the mayor of Denver for saying that local police could be used to stop federal agents from deporting migrants.
Later, the mayor took back what he said about the police, but he still asked people in the area to help fight the plan to deport a lot of people.
A Reuters analysis shows that the Obama administration deported more immigrants than Trump in almost every year of its two terms, despite the political narrative that Democrats have ignored immigration compared to Trump.
In 2023, the Biden administration deported more people than any year during Trump’s first term.