Jackson County sheriff enters agreement with ICE, first of its kind in Michigan

The Michigan Immigrants’ Rights Center is raising concern over a new agreement Jackson County Sheriff’s Department has entered with Immigrations Customs and Enforcement.

Known as the Warrant Service Officer program, the contracts allow officers that work in jails to serve and execute administrative warrants for immigrants in their system, and detain them until ICE can come and finish the deportation process.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January that encouraged local law enforcement departments to enter into the special agreement.

Christine Sauve, a spokesperson for the Michigan Immigrants’ Rights Center, says the agreement will decrease public trust and could increase instances of racial profiling.

“Community members of all different immigration statuses are more likely to come forward and report crime or participate in investigations if they know that their local officers are keeping their work separate from that of immigration, customs and enforcement,” Sauve said.

MIRC is also concerned that patrols officers may also be encouraged to make more arrests of immigrant residents for minor infractions as well.

“Officers may only ask people for their immigration status and check if there’s an ICE administrative warrant depending on the color of their skin, or how they speak English with an accent or some other signifier on their clothing,” Sauve said.

The program does not provide any additional funding for the efforts of officers.

Sauve says local tax dollars should only be used to enforce local laws, and federal tax dollars can be used for the work of federal immigration enforcement.