Trump administration proposal could expand immigration program used in Charlotte area

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A memo detailing an aggressive deportation policy, leaked to reporters this weekend, calls for the expansion of a program used by several local sheriff offices.

The plan calls for the expansion of the 287 (g) program to include all qualified law enforcement agencies that request to participate. The program gives local authorities power to enforce federal immigration laws.

Mecklenburg County was one of the first to participate in the program starting in 2006.

It did so under the direction of then-Sheriff Jim Pendergraph.

It continues to participate today.

Gaston, Cabarrus and York counties all participate in the program.

All three, along with Mecklenburg, only enforce the federal laws within their respective jails.

"Our participation involves operations strictly within the Mecklenburg County Jail and no one encounters MCSO 287(g) deputies unless they are arrested and brought to the Mecklenburg County Jail," said Anjanette Flowers Group, a spokesperson for the MCSO.

The program gives trained officers the ability to run names of those arrested through federal immigration databases.

Darrel Stephens, a former Charlotte Mecklenburg police chief who now runs the Major Cities Chiefs Association, said the plan as it is generally used is common sense.

"I don't think that's a bad thing, if someone has been arrested, they have been booked, then the databases should be searched," Stephens told Channel 9.

The program is voluntary. Stephens said there is no indication that will change under a potential expansion.

"What the concern that there is up there is the government forcing local agencies through the threat of withholding funds," Stephens said. "That's not mentioned in [Homeland Security Secretary John] Kelly's memo at all."

The program has drawn protests from immigration advocates in the past.

In 2015, a city-created Immigration Integration Task Force recommended that MCSO end its participation in the program.

A report found it damaged community relations.

Mo Idlibby, an immigration attorney with UFC Law, was on the task force.

He told Channel 9 he is concerned about how the program might be expanded under the Trump administration.

"If we keep a 287 (G) program that's vague, that's open-ended, that's overly broad, it's not going to be a good result at the end of the day for the community," Idlibby said.

He also said he's concerned that people who are arrested but never convicted can be removed from the country under the program.

White House officials said the memos that were leaked to reporters are not final yet. The White House is seeking some changes in the proposal.

Cox Media Group