To The Daily Sun,
There’s a cancer raging through Belknap County and other American communities: weaponization of local law enforcement at taxpayer expense. Under Section 287(g) of the Immigration & Nationality Act, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) partners with local law enforcement agencies to turn our communities into militarized zones.
Belknap County Sheriff Bill Wright executed a 287(g) agreement with ICE in February of 2025. Under this agreement, local law enforcement officers are deputized to play dress up and act as ICE “agents.” In this dangerous form of play-acting, officers can interrogate anyone they believe to be an alien or arrest aliens suspected of entering the country without a warrant.
Without a 287(g) agreement in place, local law enforcement is not empowered to harass people under suspicion of their immigration status.
The kicker? Belknap County taxpayers largely foot the bill for these new “duties.” Per the agreement Sheriff Wright signed, “Participating law enforcement agency (LEA) personnel will carry out designated functions at the LEA's expense, including salaries and benefits, local transportation, and official issue material.”
This program is a slap in the face to the U.S. Constitution, due process and Belknap County residents. It’s an easy way for our elected sheriff to pander to the Fox News crowd, and it expands policing authority and duties, tapping into officers’ penchant for racial profiling and white nationalism. It turns our community police into nothing more than Nazi Stormtroopers.
Meanwhile, our county delegation is cutting critical services to residents. Does anyone else see the hypocrisy in this? We seem to have unlimited taxpayer funds for fascism, but when it comes to services for ordinary residents, money is tight.
It’s time for Belknap county residents to decide what we stand for: white supremacy, cruelty and violence? Or community and progress?
Denise Conroy
Alton
(1) comment
She called it ... And it's only getting worse
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