Image Credit: Austin Garrett Sheriff / Facebook
The Tennessee Conservative Staff –
Hamilton County Sheriff Austin Garrett says he plans to “participate and pursue” a program that would allow deputies to identify arrested individuals who do not have U.S. citizenship in an effort to assist ICE.
There are three models operated by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s 287(g) program:
Jail Enforcement Model – identifies and processes individuals with criminal or pending criminal charges who have been arrested by state or local law enforcement agencies and lack U.S. citizenship.
Task Force Model – provides a force multiplier for law enforcement agencies, enabling them to enforce limited immigration authority under ICE oversight during their routine police duties.
Warrant Service Officer – allows ICE to train, certify, and authorize state and local law enforcement to serve warrants to individuals without U.S. citizenship in each agency’s jail.
The ICE website shows the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office as one of 32 agencies that are “pending” approval for use of the Jail Enforcement Model. Garrett says he has not signed the paperwork for the program yet.
“It’s still on my desk, it has no ink on it, and will probably be submitted within a week or so,” Sheriff Garrett says.
In December 2024, the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office told Local 3 News, “In adherence to TCA 40-7-1, we document individuals entering our corrections facility who are identified as either unlawfully present or whose citizenship status is unknown. Our efforts focus on verifying the arrestee’s country of origin and reporting this information as required.”
According to the ICE website, a total of 65 law enforcement agencies have joined the Jail Enforcement Model as of February 27.
Currently, only three sheriff’s offices in Tennessee are part of the program: Greene County, Knox County, and Putnam County.
One Response
A model for all counties?