How Local Structural Conditions Influence the Adoption of 287(g) Restrictionist Immigration Policy

ICE has used their 287(g) program to target immigration enforcement at the county level. This program authorizes local police officers to carry out federal immigration work to meet arrest and deportation quotas. This has eroded civil rights and led to the criminalization of minorities, particularly Latinos. While previous research has examined the theories behind local anti-immigration work and the social factors affecting anti-immigrant policy adoption more generally, no large-scale quantitative analyses have been conducted as to why some counties adopted 287(g) while others chose not to do so. Addressing this gap in the literature, the following study uses a newly gathered data set of all 287(g) agreements signed since 2002. This data set helps to examine geographic variation in local structural forces shaping adoption of the 287(g) program.