A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent watches a crowd of protesters at Delaney Hall in Newark, N.J., on May 25, 2026. The Alabama Department of Corrections last month entered a law enforcement agreement with ICE last month. (Ben Ackman/New Jersey Monitor)
The Alabama Department of Corrections signed an agreement in July with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to assist the federal agency to identify and process immigrants with pending or active criminal charges.
According to an ICE spreadsheet updated last week on law enforcement agencies that have signed onto a local immigration enforcement program known as the 287(g) program, ADOC and ICE signed a memorandum of understanding on July 22. The agreement was not immediately available on the website; the Alabama Reflector requested a copy of the contract from ICE and ADOC on Monday and sent messages seeking comment.
The Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice, which advocates for immigrants in the state, said in a statement Monday that that communities need more support and not fear, and called on Corrections to end its agreement with ICE, which it wants abolished.
“We condemn the continuous cooperation between these and other agencies who are assisting in this mass deportation agenda,” the statement said. “Alabama has a history of using law enforcement and other criminal justice agencies to take beloved Alabamians from their homes and their communities.”
The ICE website lists ADOC as part of a Jail Enforcement Model that permits “designated immigration officers to identify and process removable aliens who have pending or active criminal charges.”
ADOC has struggled for years with violence and overcrowding in state prisons, and faces multiple lawsuits over safety and inadequate services in Alabama’s correctional facilities. The U.S. Department of Justice sued the state in 2020 after releasing three reports detailing physical and sexual assaults throughout men’s prisons in the state.
The 287(g) program allows Immigration and Customs Enforcement to deputize local and state agencies to enforce the nation’s immigration laws in different capacities. The ADOC is one of 67 agencies within the state to have such agreements with the federal government.
ADOC is the only state agency that has entered into any agreement with ICE as part of the 287(g) program, according to the spreadsheet. Other Alabama law enforcement agencies involved in the program include the Wetumpka and Demopolis police departments and the sheriff’s offices of Pickens and Blount counties.
The Mobile County Sheriff’s Office has joined the program, according to ICE, but is the only county or city-wide law enforcement agency among the state’s four largest cities — Huntsville, Birmingham, Montgomery and Mobile — to be in it.
Besides the Jail Enforcement Model, ICE uses two other models. The Task Force Model allows designated immigration officers to enforce the country’s immigration laws while they are on duty or as part of a task force. The third model is a Warrant Service Officer Model that allows designated immigration officers to serve and execute administrative warrants for those within their custody.
Some agencies have agreements in place with ICE to serve in multiple capacities. The Autauga County Sheriff’s Office has agreements for all three models, while the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office is part of the Task Force and Warrant Officer models.
The rate of immigration to Alabama is relatively low compared with other states. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, about 4.5% of Alabama’s population is foreign-born, compared to 14.8% nationwide.
From Alabama Reflector Post Url: Visit
Author: Ralph Chapoco