LAFAYETTE, La. — The Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office has partnered with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under the federal 287(g) program, expanding its authority to assist with immigration enforcement as part of routine operations.
LPSO spokesperson Sgt. Chris Cormier emphasized that the new agreement does not mean deputies will conduct immigration raids or alter regular duties. “This is not anything special. We're not going out doing any sort of roundups as it's been called or anything like that. This is under normal routine calls,” he said.
Through the program’s Warrant Service Model, deputies are now authorized to serve federal documents needed to detain individuals already in custody for possible immigration violations. “That allows some of our deputies in the correctional facility to execute some of the administrative ICE warrants,” said Cormier.
Additionally, the Sheriff’s Office has joined the 287(g) Task Force Model, which allows specially trained deputies to question and arrest suspected unauthorized immigrants without a warrant. “What this would allow the specially trained group of deputies to do, is now ask certain questions and dig deeper into the federal side of things, whereas before we couldn't,” Cormier explained.
To date, 27 deputies — 10 as warrant service officers and 17 as task force officers — have completed the necessary training and gained authority to carry out these limited duties. The Sheriff’s Office stressed that actions can only be taken with probable cause and ICE oversight. “If there is, then we can contact an ICE supervisor and then they can decide if they want to look into that matter further,” Cormier said.
Officials note that there have been no detentions under the agreement so far. The Sheriff’s Office said the new partnership will not require additional costs, jail space, or staffing. “It's not going to affect much from our already day-to-day operations what we're already doing. We're not going to be taking services away from what we're already required to do,” Cormier added.
The Lafayette Police Department is not listed as a participating agency in the ICE program.
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