EPPD, Sheriff’s Office would not enforce immigration law if Trump proposal approved

Both the city’s police department and the county’s sheriff office would pass on enforcing immigration laws if a Trump proposal eventually becomes a reality.

One of President-Elect Donald Trump’s border security proposals includes deputizing local law enforcement agencies to enforce the nation’s immigration laws.

The idea, which the Borderland has dealt with before, was on a sheet of proposals for the Department of Homeland Security. Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach was in possession of the sheet on his way to meet with the Trump Administration’s transition team a week ago. It came to light when it was photographed by photographers following Kobach.

USA Today reported last week the 287 (g) program was created by Congress in 1996 and used by President George W. Bush. By 2010, local officers in 24 states were trained and empowered by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to check the immigration status of suspects. The program was largely phased out under President Obama, the paper reported.

The new proposal, if adopted under Trump, would expand it to at least 70 cities and counties, USA Today reports.

In a post-election interview, Trump has indicated a top priority will be deporting an estimated two to three million undocumented immigrants with criminal records.

ABC-7 asked the El Paso Police Department about the possibility of having to add enforcing immigration law to its duties. The department emailed the following response: “We enforce Texas Penal Code laws and have no authority or training to enforce immigration laws. Additionally, our resources are stretched far and thin. Taking on any extra tasks just isn’t feasible.”

ABC-7 also spoke with Sheriff Richard Wiles about the possibility of having deputies do immigration checks.

“We have spent a lot of resources and time building up the trust between the community and law enforcement,” Wiles said. “We want people to step forward when they are the victim of a crime or a witness to a crime without regard to their immigration status or their concern that law enforcement is going to be looking into it when they respond to these scenes.”

Wiles and Robert Heyman, Policy Director for the Border Network for Human Rights, fear immigration checks by local law enforcement will make some in the community less likely to report crimes and serve as witnesses.

Heyman told ABC-7 the Center for Immigration Studies believes there are nearly 60,000 undocumented immigrants in El Paso County based on U.S. Census information.

“I think there’s good reason for people to be afraid,” Herman said, “You make eight percent of the population disappear overnight, you’d be left with thousands of jobs where people didn’t show up to work, thousands of students who weren’t going to schools. It would be an immense social and economic catastrophe like we haven’t seen.”