McCorkle: Next steps now that Charleston Co. is aligned with ICE

The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) made the decision last month to re-enter a controversial agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which the previous sheriff revoked in 2021. The agreement deputizes local officials to carry out some immigration duties and allows them to run the immigration status of individuals at the detention center.

There are only four counties currently in South Carolina that are part of this program. There is a reason that most counties across the nation have not taken part in this 287(g) program, which began in 1996. For one, it creates significant distrust between immigrant communities and the police. Immigrants may be afraid to contact the police when crimes do occur. While not official policy, the program also tends to lead to greater racial profiling of anyone who “looks like” an undocumented immigrant.

Additionally, this policy takes away precious time and resources from officers to keep our communities safe and instead forces them to conduct immigration enforcement, which should not be their responsibility. Finally, it costs our local governments a great deal of money, as ICE does not reimburse the full expenses that are incurred by being part of this program. When we previously had the program, it cost Charleston County about $4 million a year. There are much better ways we could be using our tax dollars.

As someone who worked to have the agreement revoked in 2021, I was deeply saddened that new Sheriff Carl Ritchie decided to reenter this agreement. I am not naive enough to believe that he will now revoke it. It would have been much easier not to rejoin at all. The political pushback he would get from the Republican Party by revoking it now would be quite extraordinary.

I do hope and pray that other counties across the state realize the foolishness of this move and do not go down the path of Charleston County. With that said, what do we do here in Charleston County? What are the next steps?

What the 287(g) partnership will actually look like in Charleston County will depend largely on how active the citizens are in ensuring that this program does not lead to innocent mothers and fathers being taken from their families and deported because they are pulled over at a traffic stop for a broken taillight.

These tragedies have occurred with counties across the nation that partner with ICE, and they will undoubtedly occur here in Charleston County unless we hold the CCSO accountable. I know that Sheriff Richie is a reasonable individual and does not want this mistrust and negative press toward his office. That is the reason why we must continually be pushing against these policies and keeping track of any arrests that lead to deportation that are not for serious crimes, which is unfortunately what often happens with these 287(g) agreements. Like much of the rhetoric from ICE, you will hear that this will just impact “violent criminals,” but the reality is far different.

If our officials are allowed to carry out these deportations in silence, the number of innocent families that will be ripped apart will grow from dozens to hundreds quickly. It is time for the advocates of Charleston County to stay vigilant and ensure that families are being kept together. We know that most officials have no desire to serve as immigration agents and assist in the deportation of innocent families, and we must make sure that the rogue ones who do are constantly called out.

There is little we can do here in Charleston to combat the unconstitutional and inhumane immigration policies of the Trump Administration. However, we do have some power to make sure that these policies do not completely engulf our county and region. I ask those who want to get involved to reach out to organizations like the Charleston Immigrant Coalition or the Charleston Community Service Organization to ensure that our county does not go down this dangerous path.

Summerville resident Will McCorkle teaches educational foundations and social studies education at an area college.