By Naveen Athrappully

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested more than 650 illegal immigrants between Jan. 5 and Jan. 19, with several of them having “serious criminal histories and prior removals,” the agency said in a Jan. 30 statement.

The arrests were made by the ICE Philadelphia field office as part of an enforcement surge across West Virginia, with 14 of its 287(g) partners in the state, it said. In the 287(g) program, state and local law enforcement agencies partner with ICE to enforce immigration regulations.

Surge teams were deployed by the ICE to Martinsburg, Moorefield, Morgantown, Beckley, Huntington, and Charleston with federal, state, and local law enforcement officials working together to identify and arrest illegal immigrants deemed to pose threats to public safety and national security.

One of the individuals arrested during the operation was an Indian national who was previously cited for multiple violations for operating an unsafe commercial vehicle. He was previously ordered to be removed from the United States.

Another individual was a Chinese illegal immigrant, convicted of endangering the welfare of children.

Some states have taken action to curtail the 287(g) program in their jurisdictions to prevent local law enforcement from cooperating with federal agencies on immigration issues.

On Jan. 30, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, proposed the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act that would void all existing 287(g) agreements in the state. The legislation will ban federal agents from using local detention centers for civil immigration enforcement.

“Over the last year, federal immigration agents have carried out unspeakable acts of violence against Americans under the guise of public safety,” Hochul said in a statement. “These abuses—and the weaponization of local police officers for civil immigration enforcement—will not stand in New York.”

According to Hochul’s office, 14 law enforcement agencies across nine counties in the state currently have 287(g) agreements with ICE. If the legislation is passed, New York would join Washington, Oregon, California, Illinois, New Jersey, Delaware, and Connecticut in prohibiting such agreements.

In a Jan. 30 statement, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) criticized Hochul’s proposal, warning that it would place “New Yorkers in danger.”

There are currently 7,113 immigrants in custody of a New York jurisdiction who have an active ICE detainer, the department said.

An ICE detainer is a request from the agency that local, state, or federal law enforcement notify ICE before releasing a removable immigrant. The request is sent to jails, prisons, and other confinement facilities.

A detainer may also request that an immigrant be held for 48 hours beyond their scheduled release date to allow DHS time to assume custody.

The immigrants with active detainers have committed 148 homicides, 717 assaults, 134 burglaries, 106 robberies, 235 dangerous drugs offenses, 152 weapons offenses, and 260 sexual predatory offenses, according to DHS.

“Instead of working with us, Governor Hochul is choosing to RELEASE violent criminals from her jails directly back into our communities to perpetrate more crimes and create more victims. We are calling on Governor Hochul to commit to turning these more than 7,000 heinous criminals over to ICE,” DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said.

According to ICE, the agency has signed 1,372 agreements under the 287(g) program across 40 states as of Jan. 30. In addition, nine applications to join the program are pending.

On his first day in office on Jan. 20, 2025, President Donald Trump signed a presidential action—Protecting The American People Against Invasion—that called for federal-state agreements to boost security.

It asked the DHS Secretary to use agreements under the 287(g) programs and other measures to authorize state and local law enforcement officials to “perform the functions of immigration officers in relation to the investigation, apprehension, or detention of aliens in the United States.”