CENTER LINE, MI - A Michigan city has walked back from a plan for its police department to partner with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE, after facing backlash from the community and activists.
Center Line, a city of roughly 8,500 on the southern edge of Macomb County, withdrew its informal commitment to sign a 287(g) task force model agreement last week.
"We just felt that this was not the best time for it," said Center Line City Manager Dennis Champine. "No one opinion for or against it really changed our minds."
Broadly, the 287(g) program allows local police - normally prohibited from doing federal immigration enforcement - to do some immigration tasks. But it's faced criticism for instilling fear, eroding trust, diverting local resources and turning police into what immigration advocates have called a "deportation machine."
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Center Line is now the second Michigan community to nix this partnership with ICE in the past month, in contrast to a growing number of law enforcement agencies throughout the state and the country that have joined the 287(g) program during President Donald Trump's second term.
"We've really seen an explosion of 287(g) agreements across the country," said Adriel Orozco, senior policy counsel at the American Immigration Council.
In October, the Center Line Public Safety Department entered into a memorandum of agreement with ICE.
As a part of the 287(g) program, the local police agency would get free training to identify undocumented immigrants, enforce limited immigration laws under ICE oversight and execute administrative warrants on immigrants being held in jail.
"It was no different than any other agency that offers trainings to our officers, and that was to get sergeants acclimated with the proper identification of individuals whose immigration status might be in question at the point of contact," Champine said.
The goal, according to a press release from Center Line officials, was to give local police a broader understanding of immigration laws, multicultural communication and training to avoid racial profiling.
Officers would also be able "to address any perceived immigration violations" while doing daily police worker.
"Nothing more," the news release said. "The City of Center Line had no intent to participate in any ICE enforcement activities in direct partnership with ICE agents, such as raids on businesses or resident's homes, as the city does not have the resources for that sort of activity."
Center Line rescinded the agreement on Nov. 4, one day after roughly 75 people showed up to a city council meeting. It was standing room only with some holding signs saying "ICE out" and "Abolish ICE." More than a dozen people spoke against the 287(g) agreement including members of Rising Voices, an advocacy group.
"ICE is tearing families apart, and the city of Center Line will also be tearing families apart," said resident Riley Myers. "I fell in love with with this city and Detroit and many immigrants have also fell in love with this city. You have a responsibility to take care of your citizens."
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Another Center Line resident questioned if police would have the time and resources to devote to immigration enforcement activities.
"If their time is divided between the city safety and some kind of literally trumped up immigration thing, then where does that leave us being protected," said Peter Pterneas.
After 50 minutes of public comment, Center Line Mayor Bob Binson told the crowd the 287(g) agreement was already in motion, and it wasn't something city council voted on. As the crowd continued to press the mayor, city officials said the meeting became "raucous." Some people were then asked to leave.
Champine says he decided to rescind the 287(g) agreement because of "a combination of things," weighing public opinion and discussing the agreement with city council members and the mayor.
"After all of the discussions, after hearing the public, and we had an internal discussion, we just felt that the juice wasn't worth the squeeze," he said.
The 287(g) program has grown rapidly under Trump's goal to boost immigration enforcement and mass deport a million people a year.
In January, 60 police agencies were participating in the program nationwide, but that number has now ballooned to 1,163 agencies. It's swelled partly because Texas has mandated all its county sheriffs join the program, and Florida directed its state police to sign agreements.
"The 287(g) program has always been seen sort of as a force multiplier," said Orozco. "The ability for ICE to have connections with local law enforcement and using local law enforcement as an extension of its authority allows it to be present in more communities."
In Michigan, there were no law enforcement agencies participating in the program before January. Since then, seven have have entered agreements.
The Trump administration also revived a controversial arm of the program called the task force model. This allows police officers who receive federal training to "perform certain functions of an immigration officer." That means if drivers are stopped for speeding, officers can then ask about immigration status and arrest them.
The task force had previously been shut down for 13 years because of its documented history of racial profiling.
In 2011, the U.S. Department of Justice concluded one Arizona sheriff's office was conducting "sweeps" in Latino neighborhoods and a year later, a North Carolina sheriff's office was found violating civil rights by unlawfully detaining Latinos.
It's now the most common 287(g) model, with more than 600 police agencies under that kind of agreement.
The other two models, warrant service officer and jail enforcement, largely lean on immigration enforcement through local jails and state prisons.
"(287(g)) really allows the agency to be able to expand its ability to meet the deportation quota set out by this administration," Orozco said.
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The Trump administration has also encouraged "all state and local law enforcement agencies" to join the program by offering salary reimbursements for each officer. Funding made available under Trump's spending package, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, provides between $500 and $1,000 per officer participating based on "the successful location of illegal aliens."
"By joining forces with ICE, you're not just gaining access to these unprecedented reimbursement opportunities -- you're becoming part of a national effort to ensure the safety of every American family," said ICE Deputy Director Madison Sheahan in a statement.
But some communities are backing away from the program.
Last month, a mid-Michigan police chief decided to rescind a 287(g) agreement - not because of backlash but staffing issues.
Matt Bade, chief of the Metro Police Authority of Genesee County south of Flint, said the program would have allowed five officers to hold people until they could be taken into federal custody. But those officers hadn't completed their 40 hours of training and were unable to because of other duties.
Bade stood by the 287(g) program, saying it could still benefit the community, but said his decision won't be reversed in the foreseeable future because of the "operational capacities" of the department.
Related: Michigan police chief says he's rescinding ICE cooperation agreement
In Texas, the Dallas Police Department reportedly rejected a $25 million offer to join the 287(g) program, saying it is "focused on serving our city by answering 911 calls and aggressively fighting violent crime."
Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux told CBS News that the funding would require all 3,200 officers to be trained and make at least one immigration arrest. He said the department would also be expected to make 50 arrests a day, a quota that ICE denied is tied to the program.
Earlier this month, a Maryland county sheriff also backed away from a 287(g) agreement after a new guidance issued by the state attorney general made it more difficult to participate in the program.
And Delaware became the seventh state to ban 287(g) agreements this summer after a local police force in Camden faced backlash for joining the program, prompting it to withdraw from the formal partnership.
"The opposition goes from just general backlash around ICE's tactics from community members not knowing if their communities are going to be safe," said Orozco. "But we're also seeing more practical backlash from law enforcement agencies themselves just not having the manpower or not wanting to invest the manpower to be able to expand ICE's authority into their community."