Prof. Brianna Nofil, Texas Observer, Nov. 19, 2024
“… Immediately, the connection between localities and the federal immigration service is hotly contested in Texas, because the federal courts debate Governor Greg Abbott’s efforts to permit native regulation enforcement to arrest migrants on unlawful entry fees, and as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) continues to rent bed space in Texas jails for migrant detention. But these modern fights level to a permanent historic actuality—mass deportations have lengthy relied on native jails, native police energy, and area people assist. Though immigration management is a federal duty, immigration officers have spent many years farming the soiled work of detention out to native companions (and later, to personal firms). Working with localities enabled the immigration service to insulate itself from a few of detention’s worst abuses, arguing that episodes of violence and neglect had been carried out by contractors somewhat than the federal authorities itself. Nowhere has this sample been extra evident than in Texas. …”
