Both the Lowndes County and Oktibbeha County sheriff’s offices missed the deadline to enter agreements with the U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement office for expanded immigration enforcement as required by a new state law.
Now both agencies will have to explain to the Mississippi Department of Public Safety why agreements are not in place with ICE’s 287(g) program, under which deputies can make immigration related arrests, question a person’s immigration status during a traffic stop or arrest and detain individuals believed to be in the country unlawfully.
“We (are) still looking over and just checking everything out,” Oktibbeha County Sheriff Shank Phelps told The Dispatch regarding the agency’s lack of an agreement.
With Gov. Tate Reeves’ approval of Senate Bill 2114 in April, all sheriff’s departments in the state were required to sign a memorandum of agreement with ICE to enforce at least one of the three enforcement models within the 287(g) program by Oct. 1. Before the legislation passed, the program was voluntary for all law enforcement agencies.
Through the program’s jail enforcement model, local officers investigate the immigration status of individuals only after they’ve been arrested, then alert ICE for processing. This is the model most similar to the current process sheriff’s offices in Oktibbeha, Lowndes, Clay and Noxubee counties follow when dealing with cases of illegal immigration.
Agencies under the warrant service officer model can serve and execute arrest warrants on undocumented immigrants in their custody.
Under the task force model, partner agencies receive immigration enforcement training and can make immigration arrests during their regular duties regardless of whether the suspected immigrant is charged with a crime.
Agencies participating in the task force model are eligible to receive additional funding to help with enforcement, including $100,000 for new vehicles, $7,500 per deputy for equipment, and salary, benefits and overtime funds, according to ICE’s 287(g) fact sheet.
Both Clay County and Noxubee County sheriff’s offices entered task force model agreements earlier this year.
If an agency did not enter into an agreement under one of these models by Oct. 1, the legislation requires it to issue quarterly reports explaining why and outlining steps it is taking to enter an agreement.
Phelps said his office put selecting a model on the backburner recently because of more pressing matters, including developing the agency’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
Phelps said he had not received a message from DPS as of Wednesday regarding the department’s lack of an agreement and was unsure when his office planned to finalize an agreement. He still believes the jail enforcement model would fit his agency best, though he has not made the final decision on which model to go with.
“It’s hard,” Phelps said of increasing OCSO’s immigration law enforcement. “I think just about every sheriff’s department, police department around is a little short. So we’re trying to take care of the stuff that we need to in the county. The things that we (have) got to worry about that come up day to day.”
Lowndes County Sheriff Eddie Hawkins said his agency initially submitted its agreement to enlist in the jail enforcement model earlier this year, but ICE did not receive the agreement. LCSO resubmitted its agreement earlier this week, he said.
“For whatever reason they didn’t get it,” Hawkins said. “So I had to re-sign it and re-submit it.”
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
