Small villages with tiny populations are entering into partnerships with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Unlike major cities, who have been rethinking cooperation with ICE, 10 rural Ohio police departments have signed voluntary 287(g) Task Force Model agreements. These Memorandums of Agreement (MOAs) allow rural police officers to aid in enforcing federal immigration law.
These kinds of partnerships have multiplied across the state since last year. Several county sheriffs have also inked agreements. A recent report from the ACLU found partnerships across 17 Ohio counties.
But, for departments in small villages, staffing challenges are limiting their participation.
What do these agreements allow rural police officers to do?
The details of the contracts can vary from department to department, but the agreements grant local law enforcement with some federal immigration enforcement powers.
For example, in rural Adams County, two officers in Peebles Police Department are allowed to interrogate any person believed to not have citizenship, arrest those without citizenship on traffic stops and to detain and transport arrested people to detention facilities for ICE.
The agreement gives Peebles officers these additional enforcement powers for two years.
There are limits, though, depending on the contract. In Peebles officers’ case, they can’t carry out federal arrest warrants or ask a jail to hold someone for extra time for immigration.
Those enforcement actions still have to be carried out by ICE, according to their particular agreement.
How have rural departments been enforcing federal immigration law so far?
Gratis Police Department, which has signed a 287(g) agreement, recently made headlines for conducting wellness checks at Cincinnati Public Schools – 50 miles outside of the Preble County department’s jurisdiction.
Police chief Tonina Lamanna alleged it was on behalf of ICE. Lamanna was placed on leave and the program has been put on suspension, according to reporting from WVXU.
Two other participating police chiefs told the Ohio Newsroom that, although they signed the contract, they have not activated these agreements, citing manpower issues.
“At the time we signed up, our agency had several officers. Upon signing up for the program one requirement is training and student sign-up must be completed within 60 days. Due to todays [sic] environment the way people see and treat Law Enforcement, I lost all my officers. I am the sole officer at the moment and I am currently working on completing my early retirement paperwork,” police chief Chris Hunter wrote in an email to the Ohio Newsroom.
Spencer police chief Michael Wright signed an MOA with ICE. He said the officer that encouraged his department’s participation has since left. He feels responsible to the village of Spencer, not to ICE.
“Our duties are first,” he said in a phone conversation with the Ohio Newsroom. “"It’s not clear to me on how this [partnership] works and I don't have time to invest to find out."
Around half of the participating chiefs that signed or initiated these agreements have left or been placed on leave. In the case of Pleasantville in Fairfield County, their police force has been disbanded entirely.
Brian Perry, police chief of Sardinia and Russellville, signed MOAs with ICE on behalf of both Brown County villages. He was placed on administrative leave from Sardinia’s police department, alongside his entire staff, in late March. He’s being investigated for alleged misconduct, including racial profiling, according to local TV news outlets.
What does ICE offer these rural departments?
Last fall, there was a federal push to get more police departments to assist ICE.
ICE promises departments financial benefits, such as $7,500 for equipment per trained officer, $100,000 for new vehicles and full salaries and benefits reimbursed for participating officers.
Tech news magazine WIRED reported that the salaries of an entire police force in rural New Hampshire were covered by ICE.
But, the Ohio Newsroom’s public records requests of participating Ohio departments’ financial records have yielded no proof of payments from ICE. Half of the departments have responded saying since they’re not actively participating, they haven’t got paid.
A spokesperson for the Village of Gratis said, “As we know, records of payments, reimbursements, grants or financial arrangements [with ICE/DHS] do not exist.”
How many undocumented immigrants live in these areas?
Altogether, these villages have a combined population of less than 12,000 people, according to 2020 Census population counts.
Four of the 10 participating police departments are located in Brown County. The 2020 Census estimates the county’s foreign-born population – which includes green card holders and other immigrants with legal status – at less than 1% of its around 44,000 residents.
