A church, a nonprofit advocacy group, and a barbershop filed suit last month against the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Brian Kozak over the office’s 287(g) agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The lawsuit is the first time the immigration enforcement contracts have been legally challenged in Wyoming.
During a virtual forum on Monday, Wyoming ACLU Senior Staff Attorney Andrew Malone, one of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs, said the ACLU has since turned its attention to other Wyoming agencies with similar contracts. Last week, the ACLU sent records requests to the Wyoming Highway Patrol and the seven other counties that have penned 287(g) agreements with ICE, Malone said.
The requests seek information about whether these law enforcement agencies improperly implemented their agreements, as the lawsuit alleges the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office did, Malone said.
The program, authorized under Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, allows the Department of Homeland Security to delegate federal immigration enforcement authority to state and local law enforcement through a memorandum of agreement. Wyoming has signed such agreements in multiple counties and with the state highway patrol.
The lawsuit, filed in May, is being closely watched by immigrant rights advocates and law enforcement agencies across the state. The litigation could set a precedent for how 287(g) agreements are implemented and challenged in Wyoming and beyond.
Malone said the ACLU’s records requests are a first step in determining whether the state’s other 287(g) agreements are being carried out lawfully.