A shadow hearing in Washington, D.C. led by Representatives Delia Ramirez and Chuy Garcia addressed how the Trump administration’s rapid expansion of 287(g) agreements to deputize local law enforcement for its mass deportation agenda is harming our communities. NIJC’s Azadeh Erfani testified about how federal immigration agencies are intent on breaking the law to terrorize our communities, and how localities can choose a different path and disentangle local police from immigration enforcement to keep residents safe.
The Trump administration's rapid expansion of 287(g) agreements to deputize local law enforcement for its mass deportation agenda is harming our communities.
— Congresswoman Delia C. Ramirez (@repdeliaramirez) May 15, 2026
I’m hosting a shadow hearing to hear from experts about the need to end 287(g) program. https://t.co/5SivYX3V8k
NIJC Director of Policy Azadeh Erfani provided the following remarks:
Thank you, Representative Ramirez and Garcia, for holding this important hearing. My name is Azadeh Erfani and I serve as policy director for the National Immigrant Justice Center, headquartered in Chicago, IL. NIJC is a nonprofit organization that uses policy, litigation, and legal services to seek justice for our immigrant communities.
Justice is exactly what you heard missing from each testimonial before me. Across the country, hundreds of localities are choosing racial profiling, wasting limited local resources, and eroding trust between communities and local authorities. That is the result of participating in 287(g).
This choice is far from necessary. The State of Illinois has been a strong counter-model, disentangling local authorities from immigration enforcement to keep residents safe. Illinois laws have given domestic violence survivors the peace of mind to seek help when their lives are in danger.
Local authorities have a vested interest in not just preserving their resources, but averting collusion with a federal government that is intent on breaking the law. We saw this firsthand in the Chicago area, where we have represented hundreds of people ICE and Border Patrol unlawfully abducted from our streets.
This week, NIJC and civil rights partners filed complaints on behalf of 18 individuals who were brutalized by ICE and Border Patrol agents in the South Shore neighborhood of Chicago. About 300 heavily armed agents descended on families, with BlackHawk helicopters, unmarked vans, and drones. They ziptied families. Everyone they targeted was Black or Brown.
One of our clients describes waking in the middle of the night to a dog biting his leg and causing severe bleeding, before 4-5 heavily armed agents entered his bedroom. None of these agents showed a warrant. None had permission to enter. They claimed they were going after gang members, with zero evidence. Once in ICE detention, our client experienced medical neglect and psychiatric distress across multiple facilities. Altogether, it took 9 months for him to be finally released.
For our clients, this experience will invariably taint their sense of safety and trust in the federal government. 287(g) blurs the line entirely, leaving its victims terrified of local and federal authorities.
I will close by saying this hearing could not be more timely. Next week, the Senate will likely vote to give over $70 billion more dollars to this administration, including over $30 billion for various ICE operations, such as the 287(g) program. This bill will likely reach the House next. Lawmakers will decide whether to waste more taxpayer dollars on brutalizing Black and Brown people, at the hands of either federal or local authorities deputized by the federal government. I hope what you heard today persuades you that nothing can justify supporting this bill.