WASHINGTON, D.C. - A group of House Democrats on Capitol Hill is reintroducing a bill aimed at ending a federal program that allows state and local law enforcement agencies to partner with federal immigration officials to carry out federal immigration enforcement against illegal immigrants.
The “PROTECT Immigration Act” is being reintroduced by House Democrats ahead of the new year.
The bill, which was introduced by Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) in 2021, is now reintroduced to target the 287 (g) program that allows the federal government to deputize local law enforcement for immigration enforcement purposes.
The PIA, according to congressional archives, “repeals the authority allowing the Department of Justice to enter into agreements authorizing state or local government employees to perform immigration enforcement functions.”
Proponents in favor of the measure, like Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), say the program currently on the books “undermines police-community relationships” and causes “immigrants and their U.S. citizen loved ones to live in fear.”
The proposal comes at a time when the Trump administration continues to flex its muscles on deploying ICE agents and federal immigration officials to local jurisdictions to crack down on illegal immigrant populations.
The bill also comes one week after the United States Supreme Court temporarily halted the Trump administration’s plan to deploy National Guard troops to Chicago, writing, “At this preliminary stage, the Government has failed to identify a source of authority that would allow the military to execute the laws in Illinois.”
The Democrat proposal–“PROTECT Immigration Act”–will likely fail in the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives.
