ICE

Luis Cornelio, Headline USA -  Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison said Thursday that officers purportedly collaborating with federal immigration agents will be held “accountable,” as the city defends its so-called “welcoming” status.

Bettison made the comments during a hearing with the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners regarding two incidents, one on Dec. 16 and another on Feb. 9, according to the Detroit Free Press.

“Of our officers, 98-99 percent do it the right way each and every day,” Bettison claimed. “But I do have one or two percent that decide to violate our rules, our policies and our procedures, and to those officers, I will hold them accountable.”

A “welcoming city” refers to jurisdictions that do not require officers to investigate a person’s immigration status during routine investigations. By contrast, sanctuary cities refuse to honor ICE detainers and actively decline to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.

NBC News - Agreements between Immigration and Customs Enforcement and local law enforcement have increased by 950% in the first year of Trump’s second term, according to a new analysis of ICE data. 

As of Jan. 26, there were 1,168 agencies with officers trained to help ICE, up from 135 during the Biden administration and 150 at the end of the president’s first term, according to the analysis. Florida had the most participating agencies, followed by Texas. 

The Trump administration has revived a controversial “task force” model that allows local police officers to be deputized by ICE to stop people and make arrests based on suspicion that someone is in the country illegally.