IMMIGRATION: Cooperation agreements with ICE stir controversy as Pa. agencies sign up to enforce federal law

In the toolbox for immigration enforcement, there exists a device with a red-tape kind of name.

It’s known as a 287(g) agreement.

In short, section 287(g) of the Immigration Control and Financial Responsibility Act of 1996 authorizes the U.S. Attorney General to enter into agreements with state and local law enforcement agencies to help federal agents enforce federal immigration law.

ICE trains local officers in handling immigration matters. Local police departments can receive reimbursement for salaries and equipment when they work with ICE to arrest immigration law violators.

Local police jump in

Despite the section being around for 30 years, few local police departments had signed up before last year, but the number surged after Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in July.

The bill contains $170.7 billion overall for various aspects of border enforcement, including $3.5 billion for grants to reimburse state and local agencies that help with immigration enforcement.

As of last week, ICE had signed 1,784 287(g) agreements in 39 states and 2 U.S. territories, according to its website. That’s 13 times as many as before President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, according to ICE statistics.

In Pennsylvania, ICE’s webpage listed 88 law enforcement agencies signed up, including 29 in WVIA’s 22-county coverage area.

Officials tout training

Shamokin Police Chief Ray Siko said the City Council approved an agreement with ICE about a month ago.

Siko said he decided to ask the council to allow him to seek an agreement for two main reasons. He wants his officers trained in dealing with illegal immigrants when they encounter them and the borough may benefit financially.

“There’s a lot training available with this,” Siko said. “I want these guys to be able to – whether it’s equipment or anything — they need to do the job better.”

Hazleton agreement controversial

Hazleton City Council approved a 287(g) agreement April 28 that covers its 23 police officers.

A coalition of groups has come out against the city’s agreement. The groups are Make the Road Pennsylvania, Make the Road Action in Pennsylvania, Action Together NEPA, the NAACP Luzerne County branch and Pennsylvania Stands Up.

In April the groups issued a statement saying the agreement “dramatically expands the authority of Hazleton police, allowing them to interrogate residents about immigration status, make immigration arrests, and detain people for ICE.”

The powers “come with well‑documented risks, including racial profiling, unconstitutional detention, and costly litigation,” they said.

Council President James Perry said the agreement is meant to protect citizens “and doing it safely and legally and without worrying about litigation.”

“The 287(g) program has been around for a long time. They're not coming door-to-door. We're not racial profiling. We have not done that in the past. We don't intend to do that,” Perry said. “It's just a tool. And our goal as council is the protection and safety of the citizens. That's ultimately what it is.”

Perry said residents have nothing to fear.

“We're looking at solving the crime, not asking if you are illegal or not. That's not what our goal. We've never done that before,” he said.

Alexandra Mendez, a downtown business owner, sees the agreement benefitting local immigrants.

“Working with the same police is an advantage because they know you,” Mendez said. “People coming from outside won’t know you. As immigrants, the first thing we have to learn is to respect the laws. Because there are laws established that must be respected.”

Wyoming County DA: 'A logical step'

Wyoming County District Attorney Joe Peters, a former state and federal prosecutor who signed up his office for the program, said he’s worked cooperatively with law enforcement at all levels for almost 40 years.

“So, this was a logical step for me, and in fact, it was and is to prevent all of the alleged failings of what we see portrayed,” Peters said.

He wants his lone detective, a former state trooper, trained in managing situations involving immigrants.

“If there have been missteps with ICE, it is to avoid those,” Peters said.

“This is not to make a Wyoming County detective someone out there hunting for an individual who has been in this country and has not committed crimes and didn't come here having committed crimes," he said. "This is just the opposite. This is to enable a local officer, should there be an immigration situation thrust upon her or him, in the normal course of their job, they are better able to handle it and handle it within the rights of the individual and to prevent all of the missteps that everybody is concerned with.”

One department arrests violators

The Mahanoy Twp. Police Department in Schuylkill County signed up for 287(g) in March, Police Chief Jody Long said.

“It’s a good program,” Long said before referring all further questions to the Department of Homeland Security.

Long’s department has publicized arrests that led to apprehension of people for immigration violations.

On April 8, ICE and township police stopped more than a dozen trucks to check for safety violations, according to a news release. One truck was impounded.

“Additionally, two operators were identified as being in the country illegally,” the news release says. They were taken to a federal processing center.

The checks reflect the department’s commitment to road safety, lawful enforcement and collaboration with federal partners, the release says.

Who's participating locally

The 29 law enforcement agencies in WVIA’s 22-county coverage area either seeking or having signed ICE’s 287 (g) agreements are, by county:

• BRADFORD (3): County sheriff’s office; Sayre Borough Police Department; Troy Twp. state constable.
• COLUMBIA (3): Benton Borough Police Department; Locust Twp. Police Department; Orange Twp. Police Department.
• LUZERNE (4): Hazleton Police Department; County district attorney’s office; Salem Twp. Police Department; West Hazleton Police Department.
• LYCOMING (3): Hughesville Police Department; Montoursville Police Department; Muncy Police Department.
• MONTOUR (2): Mahoning Twp. Police Department; county sheriff’s office.
• NORTHUMBERLAND (2): Mount Carmel Twp. Police Department; Shamokin City Police Department.
• PIKE (2): Milford Borough Police Department; Shohola Twp. Constable Office.
• SCHUYLKILL (8): Frackville Police Department; Kline Twp. Police Department; Mahanoy City Police Department; Mahanoy Township Police Department; Orwigsburg Police Department; county sheriff’s office; Schuylkill Haven Police Department; Shenandoah Police Department.
• TIOGA (1): Gaines Twp. state constable.
• WYOMING (1): County district attorney’s office.