CPE’s white paper offers four strategies LEAs and communities can adopt to assert autonomy over their public safety systems and protect vulnerable community members.
Los Angeles, CA — Recent federal tactics have put local law enforcement agencies (LEAs) under enormous pressure to comply with immigration enforcement efforts, with potentially serious consequences for public safety. In the Center for Policing Equity’s (CPE) new white paper titled, Cooperation Between U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies, we assess where collaboration between LEAs and ICE is required and where it is not, and propose four evidence-based strategies LEAs can adopt to push back against federal attempts to commandeer local resources.
Fear of losing funding and other repercussions can lead LEAs to cooperate with ICE beyond what is required by law. This not only erodes trust with communities — potentially suppressing crime reporting and diminishing due process protections — but also exposes LEAs to lawsuits and other liabilities. It is crucial for LEAs to dictate the terms of their cooperation with federal immigration enforcement and to do so in ways that protect the rights and safety of community members.
“As more jurisdictions enact measures to retain control of their public safety systems, such as restricting data sharing with ICE, you do start to see more brazen actions from ICE, including courthouse arrests and public sweeps,” says Michael Burbank, Vice President of Law Enforcement Initiatives at CPE. “Our white paper highlights ways for LEAs and communities to set boundaries with ICE, anticipate these tactics and align policing policies with community well-being.”
Recommendations from CPE’s white paper include:
- Audit cooperation: Commission periodic audits of LEA/ICE cooperation through entities such as city councils, public safety committees, and civilian oversight bodies.
- Clearly define legal boundaries at all levels: Terminate and prohibit 287(g) agreements at the state level; require tracking and quarterly reporting of all ICE and any other federal immigration enforcement requests at the city and county levels; and have LEAs restrict state courthouse immigration enforcement assistance.
- Build fiscal firewalls: Third, fiscal firewalls should be established to ensure that funds designated for public safety are not used for immigration enforcement.
- Evidence based reframing of the narrative: Use local data such as violent crime rates, reporting rates, and detention costs to evaluate whether detainer compliance actually improves public safety. These findings should then be shared publicly to replace rhetoric with results.
Ultimately, it is up to local jurisdictions and LEAs to carefully define their level of cooperation with ICE while ensuring trust and equity in their public safety systems.
Additional resources include a blog post.