Beaufort County Sheriff inks deal to join local ICE task force. Here’s what it says.
The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office has officially rejoined the program that deputizes law enforcement agencies to enforce federal immigration law.
Sheriff P.J. Tanner — who has backed joining U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s 287(g) program despite local opposition in recent community meetings — signed the local-federal agreement on July 29.
An ICE deputy director formalized the partnership with their own signature on July 31. The agreement will remain in effect until it is terminated by one of the parties.
Task force model explained
The 287(g) program has rapidly gained traction under President Donald Trump’s administration nationwide, notably so in South Carolina. Twelve law enforcement agencies in the state, including Beaufort County and several other local departments and the state’s law enforcement division, are now participating in the program’s task force model.
The model has been described as a “force multiplier” for ICE. It has also been described by critics as the program’s “broadest and deepest form of collusion with ICE,” and has raised local and national concern regarding civil rights violations and racial profiling.
Unlike the other two models that allow enforcement in local detention centers, the task force model allows deputies to add immigration enforcement to their day-to-day operations outside of the jail’s walls.
Tanner previously said he wanted to recruit two deputies to join the task force. On Tuesday, Tanner said he is looking to bring in retired officers who previously worked on Beaufort County’s immigration task force from 2008 to 2012. He said they are hoping to have the officers identified “fairly soon.”
According to the newly signed agreement, the deputies are required to have at least two years of prior law enforcement experience, and they must undergo mandatory training and certification by ICE.
It is unclear at this point when these deputies will start immigration enforcement in Beaufort County.
What can deputies do under the agreement?
Under the newly-signed, 14-page agreement, specially trained local deputies are authorized to carry out federal immigration enforcement duties. In summary, these deputies are authorized to:
- Question immigration status: Deputies can question people who they believe to be noncitizens about their immigration statuses, specifically whether they have “a right to be or maintain in the United States.” If the person has been arrested for a state or federal crime, they deputies can start processing them.
- Arresting without a warrant: Deputies can make warrantless arrests if the deputy sees someone unlawfully entering the country or if the deputies have a reason to believe someone is here illegally and might flee before a warrant can be issued. In either case, the individual must be taken to an immigration officer without “unnecessary delay.” Deputies can also arrest someone without a warrant if a felony has been committed under federal immigration law and there is reason to believe the person might “escape before a warrant is obtained.”
- Serving warrants: Deputies can serve and execute arrest warrants for people who have violated immigration law.
- Processing immigration cases: Deputies can help with processing people for immigration enforcement. This include administering oaths, to take and consider evidence like fingerprinting, photographing and interviewing, preparing affidavits and taking sworn statements. This information is reviewed by an ICE supervisor.
- Drafting charges: Deputies can prepare charging documents, including Notice to Appear, a document that instructs someone to appear before an immigration judge. It is one of the first steps in the deportation process. The documents require review and signature from an ICE officer.
- Issuing ICE detainers: Deputies can issue immigration detainers or holds, which are requests made by ICE to local detention centers to hold someone in custody after they would otherwise be released, giving the agency time to decide whether to take them into federal custody. Legally, the holds are limited to 48 hours.
- Holding and transporting people on ICE’s behalf: Deputies can maintain custody of people on ICE’s behalf, including those arrested by other state or local law enforcement agencies. They can also transport people to ICE’s detention centers.
When asked how the deputies’ scope of work will differ from Beaufort County’s previous task force more than a decade ago, the Sheriff said that he did not anticipate too much of a difference, but that he has not yet compared the two agreements.
After submitting a public records request for the agreement that would have formed the original task force in 2008, the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office denied the request, stating that they did not have the requested paperwork.
What else is included in the agreement?
The agreement also addresses costs, ICE oversight and complaint procedure, among other details. The Island Packet received the agreement through a public records request.
The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office will be responsible for covering the new deputies’ personnel expenses, such as salary and benefits, local transportation and other official materials. ICE will be responsible for covering the costs of installing and maintaining technology and the costs associated with training the deputies, including travel and housing, according to the agreement.
