Pennsylvania Local Police Ramp Up Cooperation with ICE, Sparking Outcry Over Racial Profiling and Civil Rights

In a disturbing surge of local law enforcement cooperation with ICE, Pennsylvania police departments are signing on to 287(g) agreements at an unprecedented rate, handing over federal immigration powers to local officers. This expansion follows a massive federal funding boost under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which allocates $3.5 billion to reimburse state and local agencies that assist ICE in immigration enforcement.

Section 287(g) of the Immigration Control and Financial Responsibility Act of 1996 enables the U.S. Attorney General to deputize local law enforcement to enforce immigration laws. Until recently, few local agencies embraced this controversial program. But since the bill’s passage, ICE has inked 1,784 such agreements across 39 states and two territories — a thirteenfold increase since President Trump took office in January 2025.

In Pennsylvania, the Shamokin Police Department recently secured council approval to pursue a 287(g) deal, citing officer training and financial incentives as key motivations. “There’s a lot of training available with this,” Shamokin Police Chief Ray Siko said, emphasizing better equipment and preparedness.

The city of Hazleton has also jumped on board, approving a 287(g) agreement for its 23 officers. But this move has ignited fierce opposition from a coalition of civil rights groups including Make the Road Pennsylvania, the NAACP Luzerne County branch, and Pennsylvania Stands Up. They warn that the agreement “dramatically expands” police authority to interrogate residents about immigration status, make arrests for immigration violations, and detain people for ICE — all while heightening risks of racial profiling, unconstitutional detention, and expensive legal battles.

Hazleton City Council President James Perry dismisses these concerns as unfounded fearmongering. “We're not racial profiling. We have not done that in the past. We don't intend to do that,” Perry insisted, framing the program as a “tool” for protecting citizens safely and legally.

Yet the reality of 287(g) programs nationwide tells a different story. Investigations have repeatedly documented abuses including racial profiling, wrongful detentions, and violations of constitutional rights — often targeting Latino communities and immigrants with tenuous legal status.

In Wyoming County, District Attorney Joe Peters, a former state and federal prosecutor, supports the program as a “logical step” to equip his lone detective with training to handle immigration-related situations properly. Peters stresses that the goal is not to hunt down immigrants who have not committed crimes but to avoid the missteps that have plagued ICE operations elsewhere.

Meanwhile, the Mahanoy Township Police Department in Schuylkill County has actively publicized arrests of immigration violators under its 287(g) agreement, including a joint operation with ICE that stopped over a dozen trucks for safety inspections and identified two operators as undocumented immigrants.

This rapid expansion of 287(g) agreements in Pennsylvania reflects a broader national trend of local law enforcement becoming enforcers of federal immigration policy — a shift that critics say undermines trust between immigrant communities and police, compromises civil rights, and fuels a for-profit detention system notorious for inhumane conditions.

At a time when the Trump administration’s immigration agenda continues to weaponize law enforcement against vulnerable populations, these local agreements serve as yet another front in the assault on immigrant rights and democratic accountability. We will keep tracking these developments and the resistance building against this dangerous overreach.