Danette Heredia | Staff Writer
FIU Police signed the 287(g) agreement in partnership with ICE last month, introducing ICE-trained FIU Police officers responsible for carrying out ICE-related duties under their supervision, most likely within the next semester.
Priding itself on its diversity and the 142 countries its students help represent, FIU’s decision in moving forward with 278(g) has many questioning how ICE’s authority is going to look like on campus, and is filled with concern for the safety of its students and faculty.
“287(g) agreements have consistently led to increased racial profiling in communities where they are enforced; if FIU implements such a program this Fall, students should be prepared for similar discriminatory impact,” says student David Brito-Murphy.
With the multiple panels and meetings held about the signing of 287(g), many details of how this agreement will be enforced on FIU’s campus remain uncertain.
The Task Force Model is one of the three frameworks offered in the 287(g) program, described as a “force multiplier by allowing state and local law enforcement agencies to enforce limited immigration authority during routine police enforcement duties,” according to Enforcement and Removal Operations.
This model empowers ICE-trained officers to incorporate ICE-related tasks into their routine police work, like daily traffic stops and routine patrolling, and will have access to students’ immigration-related information when needed.
“I thought it would be the best way for me to serve our FIU community…If I told you immigration wasn’t an issue, we’re going to be fine here at FIU, we’ve got nothing to worry about – I don’t think I’d be doing you justice. That would not serve our community. Not that I’m saying immigration is a concern here, but…knowing that immigration is a priority nationally, in the state of Florida, I’d be naive to think that at some point in the future, it wouldn’t affect us here at FIU. You may have a student, a faculty member, or a staff member on a judicial warrant is issued on,” says Chief Police Casas.
The model has been revived within the Trump administration under Executive Order 14159 after its removal in 2012 when studies and investigations found instances of racial profiling.
The model primarily focuses on detaining noncitizens with pending warrants. Ideally, ICE would notify FIU PD of the warrant and pass over the responsibility of collecting the individual, according to Chief Officer Casas.
“…I want our guys whenever possible. Signing this doesn’t guarantee that [being the touch point between ICE and students]. I am well aware of the fact that ICE may decide to conduct some enforcement and just let us know when to show up, but by not signing,…that makes it much more likely,” says Chief Officer Casas.
The memorandum highlights that LEA officers are to consistently report and maintain contact with ICE supervisors while exercising ICE-related authorities, described to communicate guidance and ensure actions are within regulations.
“Immigration enforcement activities conducted by participating LEA personnel will be supervised and directed by ICE. Participating LEA personnel are not authorized to perform immigration officer functions except when working under the supervision or direction of ICE,” reads the Memorandum of Agreement.
“I would prefer ICE to say, ‘Hey, you’ve been deputized. You have the authority next morning, we’re letting you know this person has a warranty to pick them up,’ and let us be the ones to interact with them,… I want to be in a position where I can be the clutch point of that as much as possible, and I get it may be counterintuitive for some, but I know how we’re going to police our community…” says Chief Police Casas.
Other counties were discovered to not have given detainees the chance to complete the criminal justice process, like receiving a trial and serving a sentence, instead being transferred to ICE before conviction ends or even begins.
Counties are responsible for funding any settlements and fees that could potentially arise from lawsuits toward the city, circumstances that have happened in a multitude of counties functioning under 287(g).
Counties are responsible for using local funding to maintain the program, with costs varying per county, but typically invested towards overtime pay and proper supplies for LEA officers.
There are existing cases of local officials rejecting or terminating existing agreements with ICE due to its intense financial demands.
More recent studies found relationships between increasing immigration enforcement and decreasing student engagement and attendance, possibly attributed to emotional factors like stress and anxiety.
The “chill effect” is also a quieter, more common outcome where communities will avoid police engagement altogether in fear of confrontation or deportation, eroding public trust.
According to the most updated version of the memorandum, ICE is expected to provide training materials, training instructors, and transportation to the training location, although no location is mentioned, but said to be offered in-person and virtually.
Further discussion with Chief Police Casas revealed that there is no in-person option available for training officers, exclusively being offered virtually.
Little information is known about the training platform LEA officers will be using but 287(g) outlines basic topics that are going to be featured: “(i) discussion of the terms and limitations of this MOA; (ii) the scope of immigration officer authority; (iii) relevant immigration law; (iv) the ICE Use of Force Policy; (v) civil rights laws; (vi) the detention of aliens; (vii) public outreach and complaint procedures; (viii) liability issues; (ix) cross-cultural issues; and (x) the obligations under federal law…”
Past studies describe the training as a 4-week-long training that can be done on or off-site of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, whereas recent contracts now require 48 hours of virtual training.
Officers will be selected for nomination according to ICE requirements, specifics, and the number of trainees our detail officers are still waiting on.
“It will always be a number that doesn’t take away from our day-to-day operations. I want to have enough officers that we continue to serve FIU the way we’ve always served FIU, so I’ll do what I can, but never defeat any resources,” says Officer Chief Casas.
To ensure LEA’s have access to the same information ICE does, ICE will be giving them access to a database called ‘TECS II’ (not an acronym), an information database that holds “operational records relevant to the antiterrorism and law enforcement mission of CBP and numerous other federal agencies that it supports,” according to Homeland Security.
New protection-based technology will have to be installed by ICE to gain access to the TEC II database in a safe manner. “To get access to those databases, which are critical for us to do our jobs, we have to go through a series of firewalls. We have to install those in our network system…which allows us to communicate in a way that doesn’t get hacked,” says Chief Officer Casas.
TECS II is primarily used by Border Patrol, holding personally identifiable information like immigration status, biometric data, and risk assessment data.
Florida is seeing a surge of LEAs in every sheriff’s department, being the only state with every county functioning under 287(g) agreements, including other universities like the University of Florida.
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