LAFAYETTE PARISH (LAFAYETTE) — Faith leaders, community organizers, and residents packed the Lafayette City Council chambers Tuesday night, voicing concerns over a new partnership between the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The crowd gathered to oppose the sheriff’s office joining the federal 287(g) program, which allows local law enforcement agencies to assist with certain immigration enforcement functions. LPSO entered into the agreement earlier this month.
Some residents said the partnership has already created fear and uncertainty in the community.
“I like to go jogging in the morning—do I need to stop going jogging?” resident Christian Richard said from the lobby before the meeting. “I mean, I don’t know—I don’t feel safe with them running around like that.”
From the podium, neighbors urged city leaders to reconsider or push back against the agreement.
“These often violent sweeps have exacted devastating psychological costs in communities across the nation, so we have become afraid here at home,” the speaker said.
“I showed up here tonight because of the rising voice in our community against the 287(g) agreement with the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office,” said resident Andrew Mullins before the meeting.
Sheriff Mark Garber, who signed the agreement, said critics should reserve judgment.
“I would urge those who have asked me to end my agreement with ICE to give it a chance to begin,” Garber said.
Ahead of Tuesday night’s meeting, Garber said the partnership is being misunderstood and is intended to "improve public safety," not target the community.
“The 287(g) program—which I think is at the heart of this group’s objections, however misplaced they might be—simply enhances our situational awareness,” Garber said. “Here in Lafayette Parish, it enhances public safety.”
During public comment, speakers raised concerns ranging from protections for students to safety in neighborhoods and the potential for lawful residents to be mistakenly detained.
“We are asking you to establish a documented process to assist in the release of our legal residents who were swept up,” one public commenter said. “We need a local safety net to catch those who are wrongly taken.”
Garber said assisting ICE would not replace the sheriff’s office’s core responsibilities.
“I don’t see a scenario where we are strictly out there conducting immigration enforcement operations—we have enough to do,” he said. “Answering calls for service, investigating crimes—and by doing that, by doing just routine traffic enforcement, we run across undocumented people all the time.”
Garber said the timeline for the agreement remains uncertain and that no date has been set for when ICE would begin operating in Lafayette Parish.
