Police Arrests in a Time of Uncertainty

Abstract

Using a novel data set created from police narratives between 2005 and 2010, this article examines whether and how police reporting varies before and after the implementation of 287(g), a local enforcement program located in Nashville's Davidson County, a new immigrant gateway city. We examine patterns of symbolic language used by police officers related to arrests of immigrants and U.S. natives, and examine whether differences emerge before and after May 2007, when the 287(g) program began. Results show significant shifts in the reasons given for arrests before and after implementation of 287(g), and characteristics about foreignness such as country of origin, language use, and legal status that became more salient after 287(g). We argue that the 287(g) program-coupled with the political climate in which it was embedded-bestowed salience on traits that, in the past, were not relevant. That is, our findings suggest that anti-immigrant laws, such as 287(g), play an important role in the social construction of legal status among police officers.

Racism, the Immigration Enforcement Regime, and the Implications for Racial Inequality in the Lives of Undocumented Young Adults

“…Previous research indicates that immigrant young adults and their family members are afraid of driving. Contrary to public workplace raids and more recently the “silent” home raids of the last 15 years, being pulled over for a driving violation ushers these immigrants into the detention-to-deportation pipeline due to Section 287(g) agreements and the Secure Communities program (Donato and Rodriguez 2014; Stuesse and Coleman 2014). Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act put in place a provision whereby Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) created partnerships with local police departments after 9/11, giving officers various authorities that previously were afforded exclusively to immigration agents.…”

In the Belly of the Beast

“…Policies implemented by the Department of Homeland Security focus on undocumented immigration and immigrant detentions, reinforcing the association of immigrants with criminality. The expansion of responsibility for immigration enforcement to local jurisdictions through the now defunct 287(g) and Secure Communities programs further contribute to a generalized suspicion of immigrants (Coleman, 2007; Donato & Rodriguez, 2014).…”

Precarious Work and Parenting Stress among Mexican Immigrant Women in the United States

“…The rapid influx of immigrants in the 1990s coincided with prominent public debates about immigration enforcement at the national level. By the mid-2000s, Nashville's Davidson County was participating in the 287(g) program (permitting local law enforcement to enforce federal immigration laws) and had barred undocumented immigrants from accessing a variety of public services, such as driver's licenses, healthcare, welfare, and labor and workforce development services (Donato & Rodriguez, 2014). Interestingly, these policies of exclusion coexisted with a variety of efforts from governmental and nonprofit agencies to promote immigrant integration in the community (Winders, 2013).…”