Idaho County Optes In: NewICE Agreement to Tackle Immigration Law Enforcement

MURPHY ( InvestigateWest )— Deputies working in a Western Idaho county will shortly have the authority to detain and question anyone they suspect of being in the country unlawfully.

In February, Owyhee County Sheriff Larry Kendrick enrolled his county in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement initiative that was terminated back in 2012 due to numerous cases of racial profiling involving participating police departments. Shortly after assuming office at the beginning of the year, President Donald Trump revived the program, reversing the decision made by former President Barack Obama.

Through the initiative known as the 287(g) task force model, local law enforcement officers receive training to operate akin to ICE agents, serving as an additional resource for ICE’s efforts, as stated on their site. These designated officials can detain and interrogate individuals suspected of being unlawfully present in the U.S., and if those persons are apprehended on state-level offenses, they may proceed with processing related to federal immigration infractions.

Trump has encouraged widespread participation from law enforcement agencies across the country to help enforce his mass deportation efforts. Idaho Gov. Brad Little also issued an executive order in February that asked local law enforcement agencies to consider entering into the 287(g) programs with ICE.

The Owyhee County Sheriff’s Office was the first law enforcement entity in Idaho to enter into such an agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This arrangement became active on February 19th, as confirmed by a document provided to InvestigateWest. However, according to Sheriff Kendrick, none of his staff members have undergone the necessary training or started engaging in the initiative thus far. The county currently employs only twelve full-time and two part-time deputy positions. Kendrick indicated that the task force would most probably consist of one sergeant along with two deputies.

Through this initiative, ICE covers the cost of any required new technologies; however, all additional expenditures will be managed by the sheriff’s office. This encompasses wages, benefits, overtime pay, and local transit costs. Other law enforcement organizations in the past have ended agreements owing to the increased expenses.

The 287(g) program pertains to Section 287(g) within the Immigration and Nationality Act, enacted by Congress in 1996. This provision allows ICE to involve state and local law enforcement officials in certain aspects of immigration enforcement duties.

Kendrick mentioned that the county's involvement in the federal program primarily serves to recognize the support for Trump in Owyhee County.

My voters are highly conservative, as am I," he stated. "I back Trump and endorse his policies. Therefore, I decided to join up to align myself with their expectations. This means fully supporting the Trump administration, which I genuinely do.

However, the program's record of misconduct worries numerous immigration lawyers and supporters.

"I believe this will decrease confidence in law enforcement and lead to fewer crime reports," stated Nikki Ramirez-Smith, an immigration lawyer and partner at Ramirez-Smith Law located in Nampa, Idaho.

Nobody will likely step up to speak because typically when someone witnesses a crime and would usually provide testimony, are they truly willing to approach ICE? It feels akin to walking directly into an ICE facility. If law enforcement wants to effectively carry out their duties—which involve working closely with both victims and offenders—they should consider maintaining some separation from ICE.

Racial profiling concerns

Kendrick stated that the agreement does not imply that deputies will focus on individuals for immigration enforcement unless they are already being investigated for criminal activities. He mentioned that this would permit officers to include immigration charges against those apprehended for drug trafficking.

The aim isn't to seek out unauthorized workers," Kendrick stated, talking about individuals who lack proper documentation. "Let me explain: Our county has three dairy farms, which existed long before I did. Yes, it's likely that some of these employees aren't documented, but they're not what we're targeting. We're focused on catching the criminals.

Lawyers such as Smith-Ramirez are concerned that pacts of this nature harm the department's connection with the community.

“The current political climate of fear has led, already, to a level of distrust of law enforcement,” Smith-Ramirez said. “The police departments rely on relationships to get people to talk, to get people to report crimes, to get people to trust them. And doing something like this is counterproductive.”

A study from Texas A&M University found that law enforcement agencies who had not signed 287(g) task force agreements — but were geographically close to another agency — were likely to engage in the same racial profiling that the participating agencies engaged in. The study found the state highway patrol in North Carolina and South Carolina were more likely to stop Latino drivers than white drivers.

Smith-Ramirez expressed concern about Owyhee County having a substantial population of Latino farmworkers, fearing they might get entangled in the system as mentioned in her research.

Owyhee County boasts a significant farming community, leading to numerous immigrant laborers who dread heading out to work," she stated. "These individuals fear venturing outdoors, with their children also anxious about them leaving home or engaging in daily activities. The situation seems poised to deteriorate further as these measures come into effect.

In 2011, an inquiry by the federal government revealed that within the task force framework, sheriff's deputies in Maricopa County, Arizona, engaged in racial profiling against Latino inhabitants during their immigration enforcement activities and carried out illegal searches, detentions, and arrests involving Latinos. The following year, federal officials discovered similar issues with law enforcement officers in Alamance County, North Carolina—also operating under the 287(g) program—who unjustly targeted Latinos for arrest and frequently stopped them at checkpoints located predominantly in Latino communities, pulling over Latino motorists tenfold compared to those not identifying as Latino. As a result, both counties had their 287(g) accords rescinded.

"If this were occurring, I'd be reluctant to file a police report personally," stated Neal Dougherty.

The partner and immigration attorney at Smith-Ramirez Law stated, "If I believed the Owyhee Sheriff’s office was working with ICE, I would be reluctant to counsel my clients about reporting crimes."

Other counties work with ICE

Although Owyhee is the sole Idaho county with an arrangement for training as ICE agents, another type of agreement through the 287(g) program permits local authorities to detain immigrants in their jails and handle immigration-related arrest warrants.

The two types of accords within the 287(g) program have seen significant growth during the Trump administration. As reported by various sources, the Markup , 133 law enforcement agencies across 21 states previously held some version of the 287(g) agreement prior to the election. Recently, this number increased to 300 agencies spanning 38 states with such agreements in place.

In Idaho, three counties have the 287(g) agreements to hold ICE detainees or serve immigration warrants: Owyhee County, Power County and Gooding County. The Gooding and Power agreements have been in place since 2020. It is unclear if any other counties in Idaho will join the 287(g) program.

Despite lacking official accords, certain sheriffs in Idaho have established their own procedures for enforcing immigration laws. For instance, in Kootenay County, as Investigate West had earlier documented, sheriffs discussed the immigration statuses Of individuals they came across who weren’t under investigation for any state crimes.

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Idaho State Police Lt. Col. Fritz Zweigart stated at a press conference that they have considered adopting the task force model; however, he added, "Currently, our collaboration with federal partners is going smoothly enough that we do not urgently require entering into a formal written agreement."

According to a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, enforcing immigration laws is exclusively the responsibility of the federal government, with local law enforcement able to help only when directed by federal authorities. It is unlawful for local police to handle federal immigration warrants or check individuals' immigration status unless they have entered into a 287(g) agreement.

Governor Little has promoted increased collaboration with ICE through the 287(g) program.

"To the maximum limit allowed by law, every state agency possessing law enforcement authority must explore and establish official protocols and accords to aid the federal government in enforcing immigration laws, this includes entering into agreements as outlined in Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act," stated his executive order.

InvestigateWest is an independent news organization committed to investigative journalism in the Pacific Northwest. As a Report for America corps member, journalist Rachel Spacek can be contacted at rachel@investigatewest.org .

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