Ex-watchdogs warn rush to give power to local police in immigration crackdown risks 'threat to civil rights'
Source: The Guardian
Sun 15 Feb 2026 07.00 EST
Last modified on Sun 15 Feb 2026 07.02 EST
Homeland Security watchdogs who were forced out of their jobs warn that the Trump administration’s “alarming” rush to deputize hundreds of local police departments to enforce federal immigration law – while gutting independent oversight – risks “a threat to civil rights nationwide.”
When the experienced civil rights watchdogs had their jobs cut last year by the Trump administration, they were in the process of scrutinizing the controversial federal program allowing local police to conduct federal immigration enforcement work, an investigation by the Guardian can reveal.
The vexed program gives local, county and state law enforcement officials unusual powers to detain, arrest and interrogate immigrants and turn them over to federal immigration authorities – a system critics say is open to abuse and risks alienating communities from local police. The program is known by its technical name, 287(g), after a section in the Immigration and Nationality Act, and has been expanding fast since Donald Trump returned to the White House.
The watchdogs had compiled a report, mandated by Congress in 2024, that would have revealed red flags about suspected civil rights violations by some local police and sheriff agencies partnering with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), sources familiar with its contents have disclosed to the Guardian. But the report has still not been published and its status is unclear, leading some former officials to express fears that it is being suppressed by Trump administration officials to thwart unfavorable news and further scrutiny of the program.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/15/local-police-immigration-partnership-287g-civil-rights