Several counties in Texas have found a way to profit from collaborating with officials from the federal government regarding the tracking and detaining of undocumented immigrants. Eight counties have decided to become part of a federal program enabling sheriff’s deputies to be certified as immigration officers. Four of these will allow federal agents to keep immigrants detained in their own jails, an idea already pursued by six other counties not involved with the program, according to the Austin-American Statesman.
There are at least 16 counties in the US participating in both of the programs. Recently, Lubbock County deputies began getting their certifications, enabling them to perform as immigration officers via the 287(g) program. The county also collects a daily fee of $65 for every immigrant it houses after they are detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
With growing pressure on undocumented immigrants from the federal government, there are fears among immigration advocates that more counties will now sign up to the programs because of the ‘perverse financial incentive’, according to Washington’s Detention Watch Network policy director, Mary Small.
Following a jail break, which embarrassed Walker County, where Huntsville is situated, the sheriff’s department of the county promised to find new sources of revenue to help soften the cost of a new $20 million jail and decided to work with ICE. Sarah Rodriguez, an ICE spokeswoman, says the program offers immigration agents ‘an invaluable force multiplier’.