Immigration Article of the Day: Local Immigration Enforcement and Arrests of the Hispanic Population by Michael Coon

Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which was added to the INA  by the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA),  allows the federal government to enter into voluntary partnerships with state and local law enforcement agencies to enforce immigration law. The implementation and results of the 287(g) program has raised concerns that the program can lead to 1) racial and ethnic profiling, and 2) tensions between law enforcement and the local community. Such a situation can inhibit law enforcement’s ability to do its job and can, ironically, make communities less safe.

This paper explores the effects of implementation of the 287(g) program in Frederick County, Maryland on the arrests of Hispanics. Using data from individual arrest records from the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office which has a 287(g) agreement with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and from the Frederick Police Department which does not, the paper analyzes the changes in arrests by  the two agencies before and after implementation of the 287(g) program in 2008. It  finds that overall the arrests of Hispanics fell, suggesting that the Hispanic community avoided interaction with law enforcement when the program began. However, it also finds that the program led to a significantly higher number of arrests of Hispanics by the Sheriff’s Office than would have occurred in its absence, indicating that attention was focused toward the Hispanic community as a result of the program. These results suggest that if the program is to continue, additional safeguards are needed to prevent abuses and civil rights violations.