Lawrence, Limestone sheriffs seek authority to enforce federal immigration laws

Yahoo

31-05-2025

May 31—The sheriff's offices in Lawrence and Limestone counties applied this month to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to have the power to make arrests for suspected violations of federal immigration laws, a step that some fear will lead immigrants to stop reporting crime.
"It basically means immigrant community members are at risk any time they want to report a crime, ask for help, or call 911," said Allison Hamilton, executive director of the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice. "They are very unlikely to do so because of the risk that law enforcement would then target them for their immigration status."
Lawrence County Chief Deputy Brian Covington said Thursday his department is awaiting guidance from ICE officials on how to proceed with what ICE refers to as the task force model, which authorizes deputies to enforce federal immigration laws.
The task force model is one of three levels of authority under the 287(g) program — named after a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act — implemented in 1996 to allow local and state law enforcement to help identify and remove undocumented immigrants from the U.S.
The other models are the jail enforcement model, which allows corrections officers to begin immigration proceedings for people already in their custody, and the warrant service officer model, which allows deputies to execute civil immigration warrants.
Both the Limestone and Lawrence sheriff's offices joined the warrant service officer program this month, and Lawrence also obtained authority under the jail enforcement model.
Hoss Mack, executive director of the Alabama Sheriffs Association, said the 287(g) program's jail enforcement model has been used in some parts of Alabama for at least 14 years. He said there are eight sheriff's offices in Alabama that have applied for the program so far this year.
"It gave authority for a county jailer to be trained to ask specific questions to determine if someone might be in the country illegally, and then refer that to an ICE officer," Mack said.
Mack became the association's executive director Sept. 1 after retiring from a 39-year law enforcement career that included 17 years as Baldwin County sheriff.
The task force model was discontinued by ICE during the Obama administration after several controversial arrests, particularly by then-Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Maricopa County, Arizona, and findings by the Justice Department that local law enforcement were engaged in racial profiling.
ICE resurrected the task force model this year.
Covington said undocumented immigrants rarely commit crimes in Lawrence County, but his department requested the task force authority to increase participation in law enforcement partnerships.
"We're in the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency narcotics task force and have three deputies assigned to it," Covington said. "This would expand our capabilities in areas like human trafficking, gang activity and drug smuggling. We're not planning to put task force officers on the street to seek out undocumented immigrants."
He emphasized that deputies are not actively patrolling for immigration violations.
"Our deputies just go from call to call," he said.
The Limestone County Sheriff's Office did not respond to requests for comment and the Morgan County Sheriff's Office said it is not requesting authority to act as an ICE task force at this time.
"The Morgan County Jail already notifies ICE about anyone whose immigration status is in question when they get to jail," said Sheriff's Office spokesman Mike Swafford. "Additionally, we recently executed a funding (memorandum of understanding) with ICE, but that pertains to narcotics related investigation and allows for reimbursement for time spent on those cases." — Task force authority
Unlike the jail enforcement model, the task force model allows officers to enforce federal immigration laws during routine policing — with ICE oversight — including making arrests without a warrant in some cases. ICE refers to it as a "force multiplier."
Under the program, trained officers have the power:
—To interrogate any person believed to be an undocumented immigrant as to their right to be in the United States and to process for immigration violations those who have been arrested for state or federal criminal offenses.
—To arrest without a warrant any undocumented immigrant if the officer has reason to believe the person is in the United States in violation of a law and is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained.
—To arrest without warrant if felonies have been committed which are cognizable under any law regulating the removal of undocumented immigrants, if the officer has reason to believe the immigrant is in violation of law and is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained.
Although the model allows arrests without warrants, Mack stressed that probable cause is still required.
"Just saying I see someone walking down the street and he has got a different skin color or different hair color, that is not enough," Mack said. "You have to have a reason. If a law enforcement officer makes contact with them and they have no identification, that would be probable cause. If they go to an employer, and they try to get a job and they present false documentation, that's probable cause. If they try to file for certain benefits and are unable to produce (identification), that's probable cause."
Mack also cited "cluster living," or multiple individuals residing in one home, as another indicator that could trigger an immigration status check.
Before the task force model was adopted, patrol officers were barred from questioning people about their immigration status or country of origin, Mack said.
"I go all the way back to when ICE was U.S. Customs," Mack said. "As a state officer, you could not enforce any federal law unless there was a designation. So, what 287(g) does is it gives the state officer the official designation to do that. Used to, if we believed someone was illegal, we would just have to hold them there and get an ICE agent on the phone and ask them to come to where we were at, because we did not have any authority to enforce a federal law."
Mack said immigrants who are victims of crime have no reason to fear local law enforcement.
"If a person is a victim of a crime and they are an illegal and they don't have a criminal record, then they cannot be deported," Mack said. "They are protected if they have been a victim of a crime until the (completion) of our case."
He said Hispanic-on-Hispanic crime is often underreported — likely due to fear of deportation.
"Keep in mind everyone that might be questioned or detained is not going to be deported," Mack said. "There are people here who are not criminals. They may have entered illegally, but they're not criminals; they don't have a record. They're documenting a criminal act, and I'm hoping throughout that process where they see not everyone is getting deported, that it might build a little bit of trust that there is a process to go through. It's not just a one-for-all fit."
Mack said ICE agents will give a presentation on the 287(g) program at the Alabama Sheriffs Association's annual conference in July for sheriffs who have applied to participate.
Covington said there are federal forms that can be filed for crime victims, and those are presented in court.
"You know, if someone is the victim or a witness of a crime in the state or the county, then why would you want to deport your victim if you need them in court," Covington said. "We need to seek justice on people, so we need witnesses to be party to that."
But Hamilton disagreed, saying such legal protections often aren't upheld in practice.
"We have seen many cases (in Alabama) where people are reporting a crime and end up being targeted," Hamilton said. "This is not something that local immigrant communities are counting on and it's not something we see in practice regularly. Communities are not feeling comfortable talking to law enforcement about crimes."
Hamilton also warned the program could divert officers from their daily responsibilities and increase racial profiling.
"Immigration enforcement is often connected with racial profiling," Hamilton said. "ICE needs very little reason to detain someone they suspect is undocumented and that's why you see them detaining citizens and people with valid paperwork. They may just be relying on how that person looks or how they sound or where they are as a probable cause."
Another advocacy group, Purple People Resistance of Alabama, has urged lawmakers and residents to oppose local participation in 287(g) agreements. The group, founded in January, describes itself as a grassroots collective of activists and veterans focused on civil rights and resisting authoritarianism.
"These agreements erode the foundational trust between communities and the police," founder Melanie Kolowski said in a statement. "Instead of focusing on their core mission to 'protect and serve,' law enforcement officers are being redirected to act as de facto immigration agents — a role for which they are not properly trained and for which they lack critical access to immigration databases. As a result, individuals who are not in violation of immigration laws are often wrongfully detained, causing unnecessary hardship for them and their families."
Kolowski said the program could cause a "ripple effect" in communities, where fear of law enforcement leads to crimes going unreported and victims going unprotected.
"When people are too afraid to seek help, it allows perpetrators to continue harming others with impunity — creating more victims and making our communities less safe," Kolowski said.
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