WASHINGTON – The Obama administration will begin to shut down a controversial program that deputized local police officers to act as immigration agents. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials trained local officers around the country to act as their agencies' immigration officers, whereby working either in jails or in the field, officers can check the immigration status of suspects and place immigration related holds on them. The program, known as 287(g), reached its peak under President George W. Bush, when 60 local agencies signed contracts with ICE to implement it. But that trend slowed significantly under President Obama, as only eight agencies have signed up since he took office, and none since August 2010. In their new proposed budget for the upcoming year, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials say they will not sign new contracts for 287(g) officers working in the field, resulting in an estimated savings of $17 million. In its budget request, DHS officials instead will focus on expanding Secure Communities, a program that checks the fingerprints of all people booked into local jails against federal immigration databases, whereby the followup work in such cases, if required, is done by ICE agents, rather than local police.
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