Abstract
This article contributes to emerging literature documenting the devolution of immigration enforcement authority by focusing on the implementation of the 287(g) program in Davidson County, Tennessee. It outlines how deputized immigration officers do their work as well as the ways they come to think about their roles in the larger immigration bureaucracy. Immigration officers see themselves as objective administrators whose primary responsibilities are to identify and process immigrants for removal, but who are not responsible for their subsequent deportation. While immigration officers never waiver about their obligation to uphold the rule of law, alternate narratives emerge depending on how they feel about the immigrants they encounter. These frames range from pride at identifying “criminal aliens” to guilt for processing immigrants who had been arrested for very minor violations. Ultimately, this work shows deputized immigration officers act as extensions of the federal government rather than as independent agents.
Highlights
This article seeks to shed light on the local implementation of a 287(g) program, a federal policy that permits state, county or city officers and employees to perform the functions of federal immigration officers.1 The 287(g) program is a primary example of the devolution of immigration authority from the federal bureaucracy to county and municipal agencies
This paper focuses on the politics and policy implementation of a 287(g) program in Davidson County, Tennessee
In what I have characterized as the by-the-books administrator frame, immigration officers in the Davidson County jail see themselves as objective implementers of federal immigration law
Summary
This article seeks to shed light on the local implementation of a 287(g) program, a federal policy that permits state, county or city officers and employees to perform the functions of federal immigration officers. The 287(g) program is a primary example of the devolution of immigration authority from the federal bureaucracy to county and municipal agencies. In the case this officer described, the young man she processed for removal was taken into custody after the police department served an arrest warrant at the wrong house. She shrugged and explained that by law, they were not allowed to give legal advice As this data demonstrates, Davidson County 287(g) immigration officers do not have the authority to choose not to process people for removal. Davidson County 287(g) immigration officers do not have the authority to choose not to process people for removal The best they can do to help “deserving” immigrants is to recommend to the federal ICE officer stationed at the jail regarding people’s immigration bond, possible humanitarian release, or releasing people on their own recognizance. Officers see themselves as ambassadors or gatekeepers of information
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