US immigration rights advocates rallied on Tuesday outside a national gathering of sheriffs to protest local law enforcement’s increasing cooperation with federal immigration authorities under Donald Trump’s deportation agenda.
A group of activists protested outside the National Sheriffs’ Association annual conference, where sheriffs came from across the US to meet at the Broward county convention center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with protesters calling on attendees to prioritize local community safety over assisting with federal immigration enforcement. Around 30 activists represented a coalition that included the Florida Immigrant Coalition, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the National Council of Jewish Women, and the campaign group Sheriff Accountability Action.
The groups presented a letter signed by more than 12,000 people urging sheriffs across the country to withdraw from controversial 287(g) agreements. Such agreements facilitate local law enforcement collaborating directly with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice), the federal agency within the Department of Homeland Security, including deputizing county and local officers to act as federal immigration officers.
In Florida, every county sheriff’s department in the state has entered into some form of 287(g) agreement. Some California cities such as Hollywood and West Palm Beach are also participating, as well as others.
Broward county sheriff Gregory Tony had drawn criticism from other state officials after publicly stating that immigration enforcement was not a priority for his department and that he would not participate in federal immigration raids, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Tony subsequently received a warning letter from Florida’s attorney general, James Uthmeier.
“These entities that are supposedly in charge of protecting and serving us are now being pitted against us by our state policies,” Ana Maria Hernandez, an organizer with the Florida Immigrant Coalition, told the Sun Sentinel. “Our elected officials support 287(g) agreements in the name of public safety, but we know that that’s false.”
An analysis by the Guardian showed that previous requirements for close oversight of local law enforcement have been overridden as the Trump administration has brought back an aggressive partnership model in the form of 287(g) agreements that had been paused more than a decade ago amid concerns about civil rights abuses.
In many parts, local law enforcement and local government refuse to assist federal immigration enforcement, including in so-called sanctuary cities.
Meanwhile, tensions over aggressive immigration enforcement flared on the opposite side of the country. In South Portland, Oregon, protests outside the local Ice facility turned chaotic late Tuesday night, as federal agents deployed flash bangs and pepper balls to disperse demonstrators, according to local channel COIN. Video showed an apparently injured protester being dragged and arrested by Ice agents.
The protests followed a Portland City Council meeting earlier that evening, where public concern over Ice activity was a focus of the discussion. The Ice facility has been the site of frequent protests in recent weeks, as local residents push back against expanded federal immigration operations targeting a wide swath of people.
