Amendment to Prohibit use of Funds to Carry Out Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act

This amendment to the Continuing Appropriations Act of 2012, H.R. 2017, sought to prohibit the use of funds to carry out section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.[1] Section 287(g) authorizes the federal government through the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to enter into agreements with state and local law enforcement agencies for the local enforcement of immigration laws.[2] Currently, ICE has section 287(g) agreements with 69 law enforcement agencies in 24 states.[3] Over the past six years, the government has spent $251.6 million on the program.[4]

This program primarily targets low-income people of color, which leads to primary income earners being detained or deported. As such, it leaves many already struggling low-income families without a source of income.
Recent reports from the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General, and from the Government Accountability Office suggest that ICE does not provide adequate guidance, direction, or supervision to its section 287(g) partners, and that funds allocated to the program are not being used as intended.[5]

Given these systematic flaws, the section 278(g) program hurts local communities rather than helps them: it threatens community safety; hinders community policing; nets few violent criminals; and results in mistakes, racial profiling, and civil rights violations.[6] Additionally, implementation of the programs cost localities millions of dollars.[7]

This amendment failed to pass the House.[8]

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= vote to fight poverty = vote against fighting poverty = no vote