The Trump administration has dramatically expanded a program that deputizes local police to enforce federal immigration law, raising questions about how the surge will affect communities across San Diego County and East County.
According to the Associated Press, the 287(g) program — named for a section of the 1996 immigration law that created it — now has more than 1,400 active agreements with local law enforcement agencies in 41 states and territories, up from just 135 agreements before Trump took office. The agreements grant local officers varying degrees of authority to interrogate and detain people suspected of being in the country without legal status.
California is among the states that have placed statutory limits on local law enforcement cooperation with ICE. Under the state's Values Act, signed into law in 2017, local and county law enforcement agencies are prohibited from using their resources to enforce federal immigration law or hold people solely based on immigration detainer requests — except in cases where the person has been convicted of certain serious offenses. The San Diego County Sheriff's Department operates under those state restrictions.
Federal ICE agents, however, operate independently of local law and are not bound by California's limits. ICE has maintained a regional presence in San Diego County, including operations in East County communities. As the agency's budget and personnel expand under the new federal funding — a bill Trump signed last year allocated $150 billion for immigration enforcement, including money to hire 10,000 new ICE agents — residents can expect continued federal enforcement activity regardless of local policies.
For Santee and East County residents, the practical picture is layered: local deputies are constrained by state law from proactively assisting ICE, but federal agents can and do conduct independent operations in the region. Anyone with questions about their rights during an immigration encounter can contact organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego or call San Diego County's Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs.
Source: AP News