By Ricardo Torres-Cortez
Las Vegas Review-Journal
LAS VEGAS — The Metropolitan Police Department is re-entering into a formal 287 (g) agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement , a move that would allow officers to conduct immigration duties at the Clark County Detention Center, according to the federal agency.
The Las Vegas police department on Tuesday appeared on a database that lists 83 law enforcement agencies with pending agreements.
Metro could not immediately be reached for comment.
It wasn’t clear when the police department submitted the contract.
Metro already has an informal agreement in which officers at the jail flag for ICE inmates accused of violent crimes, DUI and domestic violence.
The list was expanded to include inmates booked on theft-related charges following the signing of the Laken Riley Act earlier this year.
Last week, the Department of Homeland Security included the city of Las Vegas in a list of hundreds of so-called “sanctuary” jurisdictions for undocumented immigrants across the U.S.
Mayor Shelley Berkley and Gov. Joe Lombardo quickly disputed the designation, which threatens to pull federal funding from jurisdictions the federal government deems to not collaborate with federal immigration enforcement.
Nearly 300 migrants flagged this year
The city also has an informal agreement with ICE. Nearly 300 migrants had been flagged from January through May, compared with just two during the same time period last year, a city spokesperson said Tuesday, crediting the Laken Riley Act for the substantial increase.
DHS quietly removed the list over the weekend. The agency did not respond to media inquiries asking how Las Vegas ended up on the list or why the listing disappeared.
The list was prepared through a late-April executive order signed by President Trump, who vowed on the campaign trail to launch “the largest deportation program of criminals in the history of America.”
“Designation of a sanctuary jurisdiction is based on the evaluation of numerous factors, including self-identification as a sanctuary jurisdiction, noncompliance with Federal law enforcement in enforcing immigration laws, restrictions on information sharing, and legal protections for illegal aliens,” a DHS spokesperson wrote to the Las Vegas Review-Journal last week. “The list is actively reviewed, will be regularly updated, and can be changed at any time.”
Jail-based agreement
Metro is entering into a “warrant service officer” agreement, which is limited to the jail, according to the ICE database. The 287 (g) program deputizes certain officers to conduct immigration enforcement.
Under current policy, Metro lets ICE know when they book migrants accused of the qualifying crimes, and when they’re going to be released, giving them a chance to take custody of inmates when they’re released.
The formal agreement would allow ICE to place holds that will allow them up to 48 additional hours to conduct the pickups “unless there exists an agreement pursuant to which the (law enforcement agency) will continue to detain, for a reimbursable fee, aliens for immigration purposes,” according to a template of the memorandum of agreement.
Earlier this year, Sheriff Kevin McMahill told the Review-Journal that ICE didn’t always show up for pickups but that they were increasing the activity.
If the alien is not transferred to an ICE field office or an immigration detention facility within 48 hours, the alien shall be released from the… jail/correctional facility,” the template says.
The city of Las Vegas and Metro previously formally participated in the 287 (g) program, but exited in 2019 following a court decision that raised concerns about the program’s constitutionality.
The sheriff’s offices in Douglas and Mineral counties also have signed up for ICE’s “warrant service officer” agreements. As of Wednesday, they were the only two Nevada agencies that participate in the program.
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