Is It Poaching?

An interesting feud is brewing between local sheriffs, police departments and the Department of Homeland Security. As the Trump administration has amped up its deportation efforts in US cities, the big issue initially centered on whether local law enforcement agencies would assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in finding and arresting people who are illegally in the country. A lot of it has to do with whether a state or city declared itself as a safe haven, a sanctuary for illegals to come to that would provide them protection against immigration enforcement. This worked during the Biden administration as his policy was to defang ICE agents by preventing them from conducting raids at business and farms that were likely to employ substantial amounts of illegal aliens. Biden, had turned ICE agents into processors at detention facilities putting his catch and release efforts on steroids and dumping them into American cites.

That was then; this is now. One of the. top planks in Donald Trump’s run for re-election was to close and seal the US southern border and to begin mass deportations of people who were in the country illegally. Many local law enforcement agencies have publicly declared that they will not assist the federal government in this effort. This occurred in sanctuary states controlled by Democrat elected officials. I have a problem with this stance as many agencies have previously worked together with federal officers on task forces attacking things like human trafficking, gang crimes and illegal narcotics cases. But apparently the issue of illegal immigration is too political. Some state legislators enacted laws prohibiting their local police from working with ICE efforts. President Trump appointed a real border czar in Tom Homan to lead the effort unlike the border czar in name only, former Vice President Kamala Harris who had no interest in taking responsibility on border security.

A federal program called section 287(g) of the 1996 Immigration Reform and Responsibility Act was created by Congress to delegate state and local law enforcement the authority to enforce certain functions in illegal immigration if they signed a memorandum of understanding. They provide training on immigration law and then deputize them as deputy US Marshals. The program also provides funding like overtime on immigration work and reimbursement for jails holding illegals. Recently in Wisconsin, 13 sheriffs have agreed to sign on with the 287(g) program. As you might guess, this sign-on to 287(g) breaks along partisan lines.

Needless to say, the working relationship between ICE and local law enforcement has gotten off to a rocky start and now a new fissure has appeared.

Recently the US DHS has announced a massive recruitment and hiring campaign. Secretary Kristi Noem announced that ICE will hire 10,000 new agents to increase the administration’s deportation efforts. The recruitment effort includes a maximum $50,000 signing bonus, student loan repayment and forgiveness options, administratively uncontrollable overtime for removal operations, a 25% Law Enforcement Availability pay for HSI Special Agents and enhanced retirement benefits. That sounds enticing. So much so that it is causing some sheriffs and police chiefs of publicly complaining that DHS/ICE recruitment efforts are targeting their ranks for potential job offerings. Local law enforcement agencies are already struggling with recruitment and retention efforts. Many local agencies especially large urban ones have staff shortages and the hiring is not keeping up with officers leaving the profession either through retirements or out right resignations. Much of this is the result of the beat down cops have endured during the war on cops, defund police movement and politically motivated prosecution of officers over incidents that used to be resolved internally or in civil actions.

Questions are now arising that the DHS recruitment effort might leave local agencies already struggling with staff shortages to end up being even more depleted. Some experts are saying that this will put public safety at risk and further erode the relationship between federal and local agencies. Let’s dive into that.

DHS going after local law enforcement officers is smart recruiting. They come already trained and their experience would be invaluable. Any top company looking for talent gives credit to applicants who have experience in a particular line of work. Suburban police agencies often seek officers from larger agencies for the same reason. It cuts down on training time and they are street ready sooner.

A few local sheriffs have publicly voiced displeasure over DHS recruiting tactics. One sheriff said he felt betrayed because they have been assisting ICE with immigration. First of all, this would have been better dealt with in a phone call between the parties. This infighting does not have to and should not go on in public. I understand that local law enforcement is dealing with a retention crisis leaving many of them woefully understaffed. That is not the federal governments’ problem. It is called competition for talent, the same thing that goes on in any industry. The beneficiary of this is the front-line officer who will have career options. What is wrong with that?

In my view, some of the lamenting by local law enforcement executives is sky is falling rhetoric and here is why. Immigration enforcement is not for everybody. The benefit package will not be enough to lunge at for officers with families. Most will not want to uproot their families and have to move to a different state. These federal benefits might be attractive to an officer who is single, has nothing really tying them down to a community and only has a few years of service toward retirement age. Officers with a lot of years of service are not going to want to give those vested pension years away and have to start over working toward federal retirement eligibility. A report came out recently that shows assaults against ICE agents is up 1,000% and increased doxing of agents by pro illegal immigration advocates has led to threats being made to family members at their homes. What spouse of a police officer is going to want to sign up for that? What officer wants to expose his family to that?

While this DHS recruitment effort might look enticing today, applicants should keep this in mind. We currently have a President who has given full throated support for law enforcement in general and to ICE agents. He will not be there forever and there is no guarantee that the next President will show the same kind of support. Remember Joe Biden? He turned ICE agents into babysitters and processors in his catch and release program at detention camps. Trust that the next Democrat President will not be at all strong on illegal immigration. Then what?

For now, my advice is for everybody to demonstrate a team together attitude on making their communities safer places. Take a deep breath and let the dust settle on ICE recruitment efforts to see of it truly has a significant impact on local agencies. And for heaven sakes if you as an executive have a problem with the DHS, pick up the phone and call Secretary Noem or Border Czar Tom Homan before going off on them in public. They will return your call. If they do not, let me know.

Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. is former Sheriff of Milwaukee Co, Wisconsin, President of Americas Sheriff LLC, President of Rise Up Wisconsin INC, Board member of the Crime Research Center, author of the book Cop Under Fire: Beyond Hashtags of Race Crime and Politics for a Better America. To learn more visit www.americassheriff.com