On September 27, the North Carolina Highway Patrol (NCSHP) signed a 287(g) agreement, under the “Task Force” model, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The agreement allows two specialized state units of the agency to assume specific functions of immigration control.
To understand the implications of the agreement for the state's immigrant communities, Enlace Latino NC She spoke with Kristi Graunke, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina (ACLU-NC).
Initial concerns
Although Graunke considered that the memorandum of understanding (MOA), official document obtained by Enlace Latino NC It has relatively common provisions for this type of agreement, but noted that its implementation raises questions about the burden on local agencies and the oversight exercised by ICE.
The lawyer questioned, in particular, the quality of the training and the supervisory mechanisms that the federal agency provides to agents who participate in these agreements.
However, one of their main concerns is the expansion of law enforcement powers to make arrests without a court order.
“It is very worrying to see an expansion of the powers of law enforcement to carry out arrests without a court order "In this state, because we know that ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have been making many arrests without a warrant and without probable cause to believe that people may be deported or that there is a risk of them fleeing," Graunke explained.
In this context, he warned that these practices could spread to local agencies if ICE does not ensure adequate oversight of agents participating in the program.
“I’m very concerned that this mindset around warrantless arrests, this way of understanding what is legal, could end up permeating the practices of local law enforcement, especially if ICE isn’t exercising real oversight and accountability when establishing these agreements,” Graunke added.
Between policies on paper and reality on the road
In the MOA and Directive I.07., official document obtained by Enlace Latino NC It is established that the authority to apply the immigration laws It is limited to the Commercial Vehicle Control (CVE) Division and the Criminal Interdiction Unit (CIU).
However, Graunke cautioned that the restrictions set out in the documents do not necessarily reflect what happens in practice.
“In practice, we know that many times local law enforcement agencies, even when their officers are not trained or knowledgeable about immigration laws, end up conducting these investigations on their own and arresting people,” Graunke said.
And what Graunke says he observes is that local authorities are detaining people excessively and exercising functions for which they lack legal authorization, either because they have not taken the time to examine the law carefully, because they do not understand it, or simply because they believe they can circumvent it.
According to the expert, this requires accountability.
“In those cases, it is possible to file claims for damages under civil rights laws. And that is something we are examining very carefully at this time,” he said.
The limits to racial profiling
Directive I.07 also explicitly states that enforcement actions under immigration laws 287(g) program They cannot be initiated solely on the basis of a person's race, ethnic origin, national origin, or language proficiency.
However, Graunke noted that community reports on ICE and CBP operations in North Carolina describe cases where people are targeted for “looking Latino, speaking Spanish, shopping at a Latino market, being in an area with a high Latino population, stopping at a Latino restaurant.”
“And that is inseparable from illegal racial profiling,” Graunke concluded.
These complaints raise questions about how the restrictions of Directive I.07 are applied in practice and what mechanisms exist to ensure that agents comply with them.
Enlace Latino NC He requested comments from the NCSHP on this matter, but had not received a response by the time of publication of this article.
Related: What is racial profiling and why does Law 318 increase it?
On the conflict of functions: road safety versus the enforcement of federal immigration laws
Lieutenant Christopher Knox, NCSHP public information officer, told Enlace Latino NC that the NCSHP “is dedicated to protecting lives, preserving public safety and serving the people of North Carolina with integrity, loyalty and professionalism.”
However, when to enter into an agreement 287(g) With ICE, the question arises whether this collaboration diverts NCSHP agents from their primary function: ensuring public safety.
For Graunke, this is a concern.
“There is a real concern that this will become a driving force that ends up displacing the agency’s security objectives and even transforming agents who are not officially part of ICE into immigration agents, because that is the culture that has now been incorporated into the state agency,” the expert explained.
Furthermore, the supervision of agents on the ground raises questions about who determines whether an intervention is under ICE supervision or falls under state or local jurisdiction.
According to Graunke, what will be observed is that agents could establish a shared employment relationship between ICE and the state agency.
“This means that, in many cases, both agencies could be legally liable for civil rights violations resulting from their actions,” he concluded.
What happens to passengers during roadside stops?
Graunke explained that when talking about passengers, They do not have to hand over identification documents simply for traveling in a vehicle stopped during a traffic stop by Highway Patrol officers.
“They are not the driver. They are not required to hand over their driver’s license or any other identification. Therefore, I think that tends to veer toward an unlawful detention,” the expert said.
Graunke also noted that if agents do not have reasonable suspicion to justify momentarily detaining a person to question them about their immigration status, that action may also be illegal.
Therefore, both drivers and passengers retain the rights guaranteed to them by the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution, which protects individuals against unreasonable searches and seizures.
“They still have the right to remain silent and no longer to be subjected to unreasonable searches, seizures and detentions,” Graunke explained.
For more information about your rights guaranteed under the Constitution, visit the ACLU-NC website.
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