--- title: Trump Immigration: Deportation Force Will Include Sheriffs description: The U.S. ICE is planning on using sheriffs to join a force to round up illegal immigrants. canonical: https://time.com/4710625/sheriffs-president-trump-deportation-force/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-23T11:03:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T03:59:40.234Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Immigration: Deportation Force Will Include Sheriffs og:description: The U.S. ICE is planning on using sheriffs to join a force to round up illegal immigrants. og:url: https://time.com/4710625/sheriffs-president-trump-deportation-force/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc9966ae4dfbeca9/6988bf7dcd1bba2c0d704695/sheriffs-may-join-president-trump-deportation-force1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: sheriffs-may-join-president-trump-deportation-force og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Immigration: Deportation Force Will Include Sheriffs twitter:description: The U.S. ICE is planning on using sheriffs to join a force to round up illegal immigrants. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc9966ae4dfbeca9/6988bf7dcd1bba2c0d704695/sheriffs-may-join-president-trump-deportation-force1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Sheriffs May Join President Trump's Deportation Force > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Mar 23, 2017 11:03 AM UTC  More than 100 immigrants deported from the U.S. returned to Guatemala in early February. More than 100 immigrants deported from the U.S. returned to Guatemala in early February. John Moore—Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Mar 23, 2017 11:03 AM UTC David Clarke, the cowboy-hat-wearing sheriff of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, made a request to federal officials on March 9, asking U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to empower his officers to round up undocumented immigrants in his jurisdiction. Clarke wanted Milwaukee County to join an ICE program called 287(g). Named after a provision in a 1996 immigration law, the voluntary arrangement lets the feds deputize state and local officers to perform some of the duties of federal agents, such as screen for undocumented immigrants in local jails and patrol the streets to identify unauthorized residents for removal. Between 2006 and 2015, more than 402,000 immigrants were identified for removal through the program. Under sheriffs like North Carolina’s Jim Pendergraph and Arizona’s Joe Arpaio, 287(g) became synonymous with sweeping raids and drew allegations of racial profiling. Its use dwindled during Barack Obama’s presidency, as the number of participating jurisdictions dropped from 72 in 2011 to 37 as of March. “I thought that we were close to closing the chapter of the ugly history of the 287(g) program,” says Chris Newman of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network. President Trump’s immigration crackdown may be breathing new life into the program. In a January directive, Trump ordered more partnerships with local authorities to deport unauthorized immigrants. Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly called 287(g) a “highly successful force multiplier.” Milwaukee’s Clarke is part of a coterie of sheriffs who are newly applying to join the program. Bill Waybourn, the sheriff of Tarrant County, Texas, wants deputies in his jail to be empowered to detain undocumented immigrants. Sheriff P.J. Tanner of Beaufort County, South Carolina, wants some of his officers to be allowed to arrest and detain undocumented immigrants. Many other law-enforcement leaders are not keen on the program. In March, 63 police chiefs and sheriffs signed a letter saying their officers wouldn’t act as immigration enforcement. Several told TIME that doing so goes against their mission to prevent crime and serve the community. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4710625/sheriffs-president-trump-deportation-force/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4710625/sheriffs-president-trump-deportation-force/"},"headline":"Sheriffs May Join President Trump's Deportation Force","datePublished":"2017-03-23T11:03:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T03:59:40.234Z","description":"The U.S. ICE is planning on using sheriffs to join a force to round up illegal immigrants.","url":"https://time.com/4710625/sheriffs-president-trump-deportation-force/","keywords":["Immigration"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc9966ae4dfbeca9/6988bf7dcd1bba2c0d704695/sheriffs-may-join-president-trump-deportation-force1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc9966ae4dfbeca9/6988bf7dcd1bba2c0d704695/sheriffs-may-join-president-trump-deportation-force1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"sheriffs-may-join-president-trump-deportation-force","caption":"More than 100 immigrants deported from the U.S. returned to Guatemala in early February.","creditText":"John Moore—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/immigration/","name":"Immigration"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4710625/sheriffs-president-trump-deportation-force/","name":"Sheriffs May Join President Trump's Deportation Force"}}]}] ```