On March 2, the town of Carroll, New Hampshire, population 820, received a $122,515 wire transfer from the Department of Homeland Security, making it among the first wave of local governments reaping the financial benefits of the Trump administration’s efforts to build out a network of local officers assisting in federal immigration enforcement.
Four months before the payment, the town had signed up as part of DHS’s “Task Force Model,” which is part of the department’s so-called 287(g) program. By signing up, Caroll’s police department essentially pledged that its officers would aid in federal immigration enforcement at the direction of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. All four of the town’s full-time police officers—a chief, his lieutenant, and two patrol officers—signed up as task force officers. In return, DHS pledged to cover the costs incurred by their services, including salaries.
Records suggest that this agreement is not unique, and while Carroll may be one of the first local police departments to receive significant payments under such an agreement, it will not be the last. As of March 23, 920 law enforcement agencies have signed up for this program, including 500 town, village, and city police departments, according to data posted by ICE and analyzed by WIRED. (In Florida, four port and airport authority police departments and 16 university police departments signed these agreements.)
Emails from ICE to the police chief in Carroll, obtained through a public records request, offer some window into the financial nature of the administration’s recruitment effort for this program. In September, around the time that the department started submitting paperwork to join the 287(g) program, ICE offered up to $7,500 for equipment for each officer that completed task force training, along with $100,000 for a new vehicle purchase for every department that submitted a new memorandum of agreement.
“Thank you for your steadfast commitment to our shared mission to Defend the Homeland,” the agency wrote in its recruitment message. “Together, we are safeguarding the American people, working to strengthen the security and resilience of our nation, and upholding the rule of law.” In October, ICE increased the financial incentives, pledging to cover officers’ annual salaries, up to a quarter of those salaries in overtime costs and quarterly financial awards between $500 and $1,000 based on each officer’s percentage rate of “successful location of aliens provided by ICE.”
Two months later, Carroll assisted in taking seven individuals into ICE custody “after a criminal investigation from multiple DUI crashes,” according to Ian MacMillan, the department’s lieutenant.
ICE also appears to be targeting lower-level officers in its efforts to form partnerships with local law enforcement, with a fact sheet and brochure about the program appearing on the agency’s website under the title “How Can I Convince My Chief or Sheriff to Participate in 287(g)?” (Last year, law enforcement organizations like the National Sheriffs’ Association criticized ICE for recruiting officers from among the ranks of their sheriffs deputies.)
On the same web page, ICE has released links to specific memoranda of agreement reached with local law enforcement agencies, including Carroll. Records obtained by WIRED, however, reveal that as part of the payment registry process, ICE and Carroll agreed to a separate, nonpublic “service agreement” that included language specifically about liability.
DHS did not provide comment ahead of publication.
The public agreement between Carroll and ICE stated that if Carroll officers are named in a lawsuit related to federal immigration enforcement, they “may” request representation from the Department of Justice. The private agreement contains an additional pledge: If Carroll is named as part of a lawsuit by an immigrant challenging their immigration status or detention, ICE “will request that DOJ be responsible for the defense of any suit.”
The two agreements also contain different language about confidentiality and access to records. The public agreement between Carroll and ICE states that Carroll “must coordinate” with ICE’s public affairs office before releasing information to the media about its work under the agreement. The agreement further states that “nothing herein limits” Carroll’s ability to comply with state public records laws. (WIRED obtained records by filing a request with Carroll under the New Hampshire Right-to-Know Law.)
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