Sheriffs have come out in support of President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to conduct mass deportations of illegal immigrants.
Frederick County, Maryland, Sheriff Chuck Jenkins told the Wall Street Journal that they are “willing to support the president 100%.” He added that he wants “to do more, within the law.”
Butler County, Ohio, Sheriff Richard Jones said he supports the mass deportation plans, and “so do the American people…people are tired of this.”
The WSJ explained that Trump is looking to expand a federal program that provides sheriffs and other agencies some ICE abilities. Until 2012, the program, called 287(g), “allowed officers from participating local agencies, during their routine duties, to question and arrest suspected noncitizens in the community on immigration violations,” the WSJ said.
A source familiar with the administration transition said, “You should expect to see a historic number of new 287(g) agreements.”
Richard Mack, a former sheriff and the founder of the Constitutional Sheriffs & Peace Officers Association, said sheriffs must be involved in deportations “or it’s not going to work.”
“Sheriffs, why would they back away?” he noted. “The political wave, the red wave, is behind them.”
Some sheriffs have indicated that they will not work with Trump’s deportation plan. “The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department does not enforce civil immigration enforcement,” L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna said, adding, “So we’ll continue to do what we do.”
