Three Wichita city leaders called for a resolution Tuesday to prevent local police from cooperating with federal immigration officers.
During an ACLU protest in Riverside Park, City Council members Mike Hoheisel, Maggie Ballard and Joseph Shepard spoke out against partnerships known as 287(g) agreements. The agreements allow local law enforcement agencies to assist U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to expand ICE efforts.
Addressing about 100 people at the protest, Shepard, assisted by a Spanish translator, said immigrants belong in Wichita.
“You are one of us, and every chance we get, we will lift you up,” Shepard said. “We will say hell no to a 287(g). We will continue to affirm that immigrants belong in Wichita — being undocumented, being Dreamers, being even undocumented.”
The council members said they plan to submit a resolution to prohibit a 287(g) agreement between U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, also known as ICE, and the Wichita police. The ACLU of Kansas and members of Wichita immigrant communities helped construct the agreement.
Voluntary agreements between U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and state or local law enforcement agencies have grown rapidly under the second Trump administration. The agreements grant local officers the power to assist U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement with certain operations.
The program began as part of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996. President Donald Trump signed an executive order early last year directing the Department of Homeland Security to expand 287(g) agreements to as many local law enforcement agencies as possible.
To date, ICE has signed 2,597 Memorandums of Agreement for 287(g) programs covering 39 states and two U.S. territories.
In Kansas, 36 counties, 10 cities and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation have entered into 287(g) agreements. Wichita currently does not have a 287(g) agreement, but Sedgwick County does.
“There is increasing pressure from the Trump administration for folks to voluntarily sign up and do this,” said Micah Kubic, executive director of ACLU of Kansas. “Even for a lot of folks who have not done it before, there is pressure on them. So, it is important for communities to come together and say that this isn't what we want our community to be like.”
There are three main types of 287(g) agreements. The most expansive is the “task force model.” ICE describes the agreement as giving local law enforcement limited immigration authority while performing routine police duties. For example, law enforcement can inquire into someone’s immigration status.
Twenty-five Kansas law enforcement agencies have this model.
Other agreements include the “jail enforcement model,” where local officers can interrogate suspected noncitizens who have been arrested to determine their immigration status.
Finally, there’s the "warrant service officer model,” where officers execute ICE administrative warrants.
Critics like the ACLU and the American Immigration Council have said the task force model has a track record of racial profiling and harm.
Kubic said racial profiling happens because local law enforcement doesn’t receive enough training in immigration law. That can lead to local officers stopping people on the street just because they look like an immigrant, he said.
“I think that is the sort of model that creates the most community distrust, that creates the greatest environment of fear, that most says, ‘This is not a place that shares our values,’” Kubic said.
Journalist and community advocate Claudia Amaro told the crowd the agreements create fear in immigrant communities. And consequences can extend far beyond one person, she said.
“People become hesitant to seek services,” Amaro said. “Families experience uncertainty. Trust between neighbors and public institutions becomes harder to maintain. People need to be able to seek help, report a crime, or ask a question without fear.”
During a press conference about the recent arrest of a Honduran citizen for voluntary manslaughter earlier this month, Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach said he expects more counties to join the program.
The cooperation of local law enforcement with ICE is critical to resolving the problem of alien fugitives, he said. Kobach stressed the agreements involve public safety and are a high priority for him as attorney general.
Kubic said there is no evidence that the agreements make cities safer. He said ICE officers arrest many immigrants who have no criminal record. That can create an environment of fear and make immigrants feel like they don’t belong, he said.
“That's not the message that we want to send in Wichita. That's not the message that we want to send in Kansas,” Kubic said.
Tuesday’s ACLU protest in Wichita follows heightened ICE enforcement in southwest Kansas. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said law enforcement conducted operations against illegal aliens with final removal orders or serious criminal records and did not target workplaces like meatpacking facilities.
However, there were unconfirmed reports that ICE agents have detained people at processing plants. Meatpacking industry groups like the Kansas Livestock Association said ICE operations have prompted delays and millions of dollars in lost revenue.
Kubic said the recent enforcement in southwest Kansas happened in counties that both did and did not have 287(g) agreements. He was encouraged that concern about the enforcement crossed party lines. But it was an example of the havoc ICE is creating across the country, Kubic said.
While he’s unsure of what actions ICE might take next in Kansas, Kubic said one thing people can do is ask their elected officials not to sign any more 287(g) agreements.
“That is a message that has to be sent,” Kubic said. “I think this particular ICE policy, the way ICE is pursuing things, is in violation of the Constitution. The only protection that we have is people standing up for themselves and saying this is not behavior that we condone.”
