Trump Outsources Deportation to Local Cops, Pays Their Salaries
The Trump administration's plan to boost deportations by deputizing local law enforcement via 287(g) agreements isn't a new concept, but the scale and financial incentives are. Axios notes ICE has signed over 1,100 such agreements, incentivizing local agencies with full salary reimbursement and bonuses for 'successful location of illegal aliens provided by ICE.' (Translation: Your local police
officers are now federal border agents, with their paychecks federally subsidized, not unlike how previous administrations incentivized policing through militarization). This means federal immigration enforcement is being effectively downloaded to counties, with local taxpayers footing part of the bill, or rather, the federal taxpayer now directly funding local police salaries. It appears some
local police forces, especially in red states, have found a new revenue stream, cloaking federal enforcement in local uniforms. One might wonder if this 'surge' of agreements is more about budgets than borders, effectively nationalizing local law enforcement under the DHS umbrella.