Exclusive: Emails and internal memos reveal concerns immigration enforcement is interfering with police work
Law enforcement and local government officials across the US have over the last year expressed concerns that immigration operations were interfering with police work and leading to threats to officers, according to internal emails and briefings shared with the Guardian.
The development comes as the US public has become afraid and distrustful of officers in their communities due to the Trump administration’s aggressive and at times indiscriminate immigration crackdown.
Internal emails and memos from law enforcement personnel and city departments in seven states and several federal agencies reveal growing alarm about civilians mistaking local officers for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. The confusion, they have warned, is creating problems and fear for officers carrying out their regular duties.
The documents show local authorities in Minnesota and Washington state in January and February scrambled to distinguish their cities’ officers and public safety personnel from ICE agents. Law enforcement in other states, meanwhile, have worried that protesters and civilians monitoring ICE might inadvertently target or endanger them.
