HOUSTON – Citing money and priorities, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez has opted his department out of a voluntary program run by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The 287(g) program, named for the section of the Immigration and Nationality Act under which it falls, allows ICE to deputize local law enforcement agents to perform certain federal immigration enforcement functions in jails.
Gonzalez said his department was spending $675,000 to staff and run the program. He said about nine people staff the program each day.
“Now, we will be able to redirect that salary investment into other local priorities, like dealing with our overtime costs inside the jail, into jail operations,” Gonzaelz said. “We have a staffing issue we need to contend with."
Gonzalez said other priorities include purchasing more patrol cars and staffing the department’s criminal investigations bureau.
“To me, our clearance rates are not satisfactory,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez said about 1,000 people were identified last year under the program for detainers and removal from the jail. He said those numbers have been decreasing in recent years.
Gonzalez said only three counties in Texas, including Harris, participated in the program. According to ICE’s website, the other counties are Jackson and Lubbock. The Carrollton Police Department also participates in the program.
“Frankly, we’ve been an outlier in participating in this program,” Gonzalez said. “We’re not consistent with what the other sheriff agencies are doing.”
Gonzalez said ICE still has access to all the relevant databases, and his department will comply with any request by the agency.