287(g) -- What's That?

The NY Times editorially decried the growth of the 287(g) program of Homeland Security and asked that the participation of the Maricopa County (AZ) Sheriff's Office"s participation be investigated by Congress. 287(g) authorizes the Homeland Security Secretary to enter agreement with local law enforcement agencies to assist ICE and carry out some of immigration enforcement. The largest such program is with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office presided over by the anti-immigrant Joe Arpaio. Over a 160 of his deputies have already been trained by ICE and he has gather 3,000 volunteer deputies to assist his uniformed force. The headline-graping round-ups of undocumented has deflected the sheriff's pursuit of real felons and is unwelcomed by some municipalities.