Caitlin Dickerson

So they're trying to expand the use of things like expedited removal, which is basically just a legal way of deporting someone without giving them their day in court.

You know, the expanded use of expedited removal has been challenged and I'm sure will continue to be.

And, you know, we're back in a situation just like during the first Trump administration when there's really this

Effort that can only be described as throwing spaghetti to the wall to see what sticks.

You know, they try everything all at once in hopes that collectively, even though individual policies are likely to be challenged and some of them likely to be terminated as a result of those challenges, the hope is that collectively it will get them closer to the goal that they've laid out.

So I think the best way to describe it is the language that ICE itself uses.

It describes its partnerships with local police agencies as a force multiplier.

Because when ICE is working closely with local police, they basically have a pipeline of people who are eligible for deportation.

These pipelines are often facilitated through agreements.

They're known as 287G agreements.

And those have exploded under this administration.

I think there are more than a thousand in place now.

These are agreements where local police collaborate with ICE either by deputizing their own officers to work on immigration enforcement or simply granting access to their records and their jails for ICE agents to come and pick people up so that anyone who interacts with local police is screened based on their immigration record.

And can be easily and quickly handed over to ICE.

This makes ICE's job a lot easier, right?

The problem with these agreements is that, as I mentioned earlier, a lot of times they're handing over people who have been booked on very minor criminal infractions, a traffic violation, perhaps driving without a license, which is de facto an obligation for immigrants without legal status living in states that don't offer them.

driver's licenses.

So these low-level infractions can very quickly escalate to deportations when these relationships are in place.

But you can see why ICE loves them, because it makes their jobs so much easier.

Fewer than existed previously is the answer to that.