Thursday, August 21, 2025

Across U.S., Cooperation with ICE Grows Despite Pasadena’s Resistance

By ANDRÈ COLEMAN, Managing Editor

In 2017, then-City Manager Steve Mermell (left) disavowed an unauthorized agreement signed by then-Police Chief Phillip Sanchez (center) with Homeland Security which appeared to signal Police Dept. cooperation with ICE. Then Councilmember Victor Gordo (right) said he was deeply disappointed after the document’s discovery. Because it was improperly executed, city officials said the agreement was never actually in effect. [Archival photos]

While Pasadena police reaffirmed that they do not perform the work of immigration officials —a stance highlighted at a recent Police Oversight Commission—many cities and states nationwide have been deepening their collaboration with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Last week, Deputy Chief Art Chute told commissioners that officers will not detain or arrest people solely for immigration violations, nor will the department honor civil detainers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). He also emphasized that ICE is not permitted to use city facilities for staging or parking.

Chute reported that in the past year Pasadena police booked only two individuals on federal judicial warrants tied to criminal immigration violations, which he said are required by law. Civil detainer cases, he explained, are processed and released under the city’s standard procedures without alerting federal authorities.

While acknowledging community concerns about transparency, Chute said the department will not broadcast alerts about ICE operations, citing risks to federal agents’ safety. Instead, the department is pushing for better communication from ICE, including after-action notifications to reduce confusion when residents encounter federal personnel in their neighborhoods.

The presentation also highlighted Pasadena’s compliance with the California Values Act, which prohibits using immigration status as a basis for questioning victims or witnesses.

“The Pasadena Police Department protects all community members regardless of immigration status,” Chute said. Commissioners indicated they will continue monitoring the department’s approach to immigration enforcement.

Meanwhile, in other jurisdictions, federal data shows a marked rise in 287(g) agreements, which empower local officers to perform immigration enforcement.

Enacted in 1996, the agreements are a formal partnership between ICE and a state or local law enforcement agency that allows officers to receive ICE training and carry out certain federal immigration enforcement functions.

Under the agreements, officers can question individuals about their immigration status, issue immigration detainers, and start removal (deportation) proceedings.

Under the jail enforcement model, local officers screen people booked into local jails to check their immigration status. Under the task force model, which is used less, local officers work directly with ICE in the community, such as during traffic stops or raids.

Supporters claim the agreement increases cooperation between local and federal agencies and helps identify and remove individuals who commit crimes and are in the country unlawfully.

Meanwhile, detractors said the agreements lead to racial profiling and civil rights violations and damages trust between immigrant communities and police, making victims and witnesses less likely to report crimes. They also claim the agreement burdens local governments with costs and responsibilities of federal enforcement.

As of August 18, ICE has signed 896 such agreements across 40 states, reflecting a considerable expansion of the program, according to the American Immigration Council

In a six-day operation dubbed “Operation Tidal Wave,” more than 1,100 arrests were made in Florida—making it the largest state-wide immigration sweep in ICE’s history, according to the Washington Post.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis touted the effort as a model, stating the operation was “the largest number of undocumented migrants detained in a single state in one week,” and the governor pledged it would serve as a blueprint for other jurisdictions.

“This has been the first of its kind throughout the United States … this is the largest immigration enforcement operation that we’ve seen in quite some time throughout the entire country,” DeSantis said.

At the national level, the number of active 287(g) agreements jumped from 135 in 21 states in December 2024 to 517 agreements spanning 39 states by early 2025. The number grew to nearly 900 this summer.

“287(g) agreements undermine public safety by pitting local law enforcement against immigrant communities, meaning that victims of crime, witnesses, and others will be afraid to come forward and cooperate with police,” said Mike Brickner, executive director of the ACLU of Delaware after the city officials in Camden decided to enter a 287(g) agreement with ICE. “These agreements have shown to also lead to race profiling, where people of color experience more problems with law enforcement, regardless of their own personal immigration status.”

Depending on who you ask, Pasadena had a longstanding 287(g)-style agreement until 2017 when it was voided after its existence was revealed by Pasadena Now, raising the ire of activists, civic, and government leaders.

The long-standing reimbursement arrangement between the Pasadena Police and ICE, signed by Police Chief Phillip Sanchez on November 16, 2016, in a Memorandum of Understanding renewal agreement, mandated that the Pasadena Police Department must assist federal immigration authorities with “any investigation or joint operation” within the City’s borders.

Reacting to discovery of the agreement in early 2017, then-City Councilmember Victor Gordo and now Mayor Victor Gordo  said he was “deeply disappointed.”

“With the immigration-related campaign promises made by President Trump, many in our community expressed their concern and anxiety at what that could mean for their family, friends, and loved ones,” Gordo said in a statement the day after the agreement document was published.

City Manager Steve Mermell then announced that he had determined the agreement was actually never in effect because he had not executed it, a city charter requirement.

Homeland Security officials acknowledged the agreement had been canceled but claimed it was active earlier.