As ICE continues to carry out Trump’s ambitions on arresting migrants, several counties have agreed to provide ICE assistance in their investigations and arrests. According to Lohud, “The latest recruit was Steuben, a county of 92,000 in southwestern New York. Sheriff Jim Allard signed two agreements in July for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to authorize and train members of his staff to perform ICE duties at the Steuben County jail and to question and arrest.” Other New York counties that are currently in agreement with ICE are Nassau County, Niagara County, Broome County and so on.
Many seem to be against this as some are even working towards opposing Trump’s attempts to commence mass deportations, as according to NYCLU, “NYCLU, Latino Justice PRLDEF and Hofstra Law School’s Deportation Defense Clinic sued Nassau County. We want a judge to throw out this agreement, which could subject New Yorkers to racial profiling and illegal stops, searches, detentions and arrests.”
Many of these agreements are under what is known as a 287 (g) agreement, which according to ICE, authorizes “U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to delegate to state and local law enforcement officers the authority to perform specified immigration officer functions under the agency’s direction and oversight” and that it “enhances the safety and security of our nation’s communities by allowing ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) to partner with state and local law enforcement. However some disagree as according to NYCLU, “research shows that places that keep local law enforcement out of ICE’s cruelty experience less crime than communities that turn their officers into immigration agents.”
Not only that, but there have already been many cases of United States citizens being falsely arrested by ICE in 2025 such as Andrea Velez for example, who was falsely detained by ICE earlier this year and was allegedly assaulted. These agreements with ICE can lead to prolific racial profiling and false arrests which have the potential to ruin people’s lives.
