TAYLOR, Mich. — Vowing "no one in this department will be getting arrested for subverting federal law," Taylor Police Chief John Blair said Monday his agency signed an agreement last week with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that allows local officers to question people about their immigration status.

The April 28 agreement made Taylor the second Michigan police department to enter such an agreement with ICE. The Jackson County Sheriff's Office last month joined the 287(g) program under a law that was passed by Congress in 1996 as part of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act. The law allows federal immigration enforcement authorities to delegate functions such as investigating, arresting or detaining noncitizens to local agencies.

As of May 2, 2025, ICE has signed 517 nationwide Memorandums of Agreement for 287(g) programs, encompassing 39 states, the federal agency said on its website.

"It doesn't change anything — exact same policing as when I walked in the door 34 years ago," Blair said in a statement to The Detroit News. "We aren't kicking in doors or searching for illegal immigrants. If you are arrested for a criminal offense, we must identify you. If in the lawful process of identifying you it is determined you are in the country illegally, we will contact ICE. That is what we do, and that is what we will continue to do.

"We will NOT subvert federal law enforcement from enforcing illegal immigration law," Blair said. "No one in this department will be getting arrested for subverting federal law."

Blair did not elaborate on his comments, which came a week after President Donald Trump signed two executive orders outlining consequences for municipalities and agencies that hinder the administration's efforts to deport criminals who are in the United States illegally.

One order instructs U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to pursue possible criminal and civil action against state or local officials who obstruct “criminal or immigration law enforcement." The second order states if sanctuary jurisdictions don’t change their laws, “the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall pursue all necessary legal remedies and enforcement measures to end these violations and bring such jurisdictions into compliance with the laws of the United States."

The two executive orders were decried by the American Civil Liberties Union, which issued a statement calling the directives "just the latest escalation in the Trump administration’s shakedown of cities, states, and elected officials that refuse to offer up local resources for the administration’s mass deportation and detention agenda."

ICE offers three models for local law enforcement under the 287(g) initiative. The model Taylor signed up for, the Task Force Model, allows police to question people about their immigration status during the course of their normal law enforcement duties. The model was discontinued in 2012 by former President Barack Obama, after a 2011 Department of Justice investigation found Maricopa County's initiative was rife with racial profiling and other discriminatory practices.

The Task Force Model was reinstated by Trump when he assumed office Jan. 20.

Christine Sauvé, policy, engagement and communications manager at the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, criticized Taylor police officials for signing the agreement with ICE.

"It is alarming that Taylor's police department is choosing to use local tax dollars to subsidize federal efforts to cruelly uproot our immigrant neighbors," Sauvé said in a statement. "They are choosing to risk racial profiling, curtailing constitutional rights, and taking on legal liability, all which can be very costly for a small community like Taylor."

According to ICE, the agency's Removal Operations has three 287(g) models: Jail Enforcement, Task Force and Warrant Service Officer.

"The Jail Enforcement Model is designed to identify and process removable aliens — with criminal or pending criminal charges — who are arrested by state or local law enforcement agencies," ICE said on its website. "The Task Force Model serves as a force multiplier for law enforcement agencies to enforce limited immigration authority with ICE oversight during their routine police duties ... (and) the Warrant Service Officer program allows ICE to train, certify and authorize state and local law enforcement officers to serve and execute administrative warrants on aliens in their agency’s jail."

The Jackson County Sheriff's Office signed up for the Warrant Service Officer Model. Nationwide, 241 agencies have Task Force Model agreements, with 189 in the Warrant Service Officer model, and 87 in the Jail Enforcement Model, ICE Said.

Sauvé said the Task Force model "is riddled with problems," referencing the Department of Justice's findings in Maricopa County, Arizona, and a 2016 Brookings Institution study that found that Prince William County, Virginia, had to raise property taxes and take money from its "rainy day” fund to implement its 287(g) program, which cost $6.4 million in its first year.

"Maricopa County is still paying for its long-shuttered 287(g) program, and Prince William County had to raise property taxes and take money from its 'rainy day' fund to cover the cost," Sauvé said. "And none of this has been shown to increase public safety. In fact, it's quite the opposite. Local officers are already overworked, so when they take on the work of ICE, they're spending less time and resources on local policing.

"Community members lose trust and are less likely to come forward to report crimes which makes everyone less safe," Sauvé said. "Local tax dollars would be better spent building trust with residents and enforcing local laws, rather than subsidizing the work of federal immigration enforcement."

Taylor's agreement with ICE comes amid fierce debate over Trump's immigration policies, and the role local agencies and municipalities play in the federal deportation operation.

Last week, a package of five bills passed in the Michigan House of Representatives that would ban local governments from enforcing "sanctuary" policies that restrict police from cooperating with federal immigration authorities.

In February, the Wayne County Sheriff's Office changed its policy about cooperating with federal immigration officials. The new edict, signed by Sheriff Raphael Washington, removed language forbidding jail employees from holding inmates on ICE detainers unless the federal agency was unable to provide more than a detainer or administrative warrant.

However, the new policy continues to prohibit jail staff from releasing inmates to ICE unless the federal agency provides an arrest warrant. The new Wayne County policy also clarifies that inmates must finish their sentences for all state or local criminal charges before they're released to ICE.

_____

©2025 The Detroit News. Visit detroitnews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.