Since President Donald Trump returned to the Oval Office in January, 11 Utah law enforcement agencies have signed deals with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to give their officers immigration policing powers.
Before the second Trump administration, none had signed so-called 287(g) agreements with the federal government — evidence of the president’s push to crack down on immigration with the help of state and municipal agencies.
The surge of local governments doing federal immigration enforcement work worries Aaron Welcher, spokesperson for the Utah chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, because multiple studies have shown that such agreements don’t increase public safety.
“This doesn’t actually lead to people being more safe,” Welcher said. “It leads to a lot of distrust in local law enforcement. It makes it so people don’t cooperate and report crimes.”
The contracts between Utah law enforcement agencies and the federal government generally expand the powers of some local police and jail officers and allow them to investigate and arrest people they think are staying in the Beehive State without proper documents.
Welcher said the agreements stipulate that officers vested with additional powers get training from ICE on immigration law, but that it’s not clear how rigorous that training is, possibly opening up smaller agencies to civil rights lawsuits.
For its part, ICE says the program allows it to work more closely with state and local departments to investigate and remove people in the country without legal status. There are three models of agreements that agencies can sign: task force, jail enforcement and warrant service officer.
Task force model
This type of accord is the most intensive; it gives a set of designated officers the ability to investigate and make immigration arrests in the course of their regular police duties, like traffic stops. As of late last week, five Utah agencies had these agreements:
• Riverton Police Department, signed Aug. 28.
• Tooele County Sheriff’s Office, signed July 2.
• Utah County Sheriff’s Office, signed July 24.
• Washington County Sheriff’s Office, signed March 21.
• Weber County Sheriff’s Office, signed July 2.
Jail enforcement model
These agreements call on agencies to identify people without proper documents in their jails and begin immigration proceedings against them. Law enforcement officials can also hold people in jail for longer periods of time if they don’t have legal status. Two Utah counties have a jail enforcement accord.
• Sanpete County Sheriff’s Office, signed June 11.
• Washington County Sheriff’s Office, signed March 21.
Warrant service officer model
The warrant service officer model is narrower: It only allows agencies to execute warrants against undocumented people in their jails. Officers play no investigative role. Seven state and local agencies have signed this type of pact.
• Beaver County Sheriff’s Office, signed July 11.
• Cache County Sheriff’s Office, signed Aug. 4.
• Kane County Sheriff’s Office, signed July 24.
• Tooele County Sheriff’s Office, signed June 25.
• Utah County Sheriff’s Office, signed July 24.
• Utah Department of Corrections, signed May 13.
• Wasatch County Sheriff’s Office, signed Aug. 4.
Outside of these agreements, some local agencies will work with ICE and the federal Department of Homeland Security on occasion. The Salt Lake County Jail, for example, often holds ICE detainees under a contract with the U.S. Marshals Service. Some Utah agencies, meanwhile, will call Homeland Security for help with identifying a person involved in a crime. On occasion, agencies will notify ICE or other federal departments if they come across someone with an outstanding warrant for their arrest.