As the Trump administration continues to ramp up its controversial mass deportation program, South Carolina lawmakers took the first major step to advance legislation that would require local law enforcement agencies across the state to assist in federal immigration enforcement efforts.
Under the bill (H. 4764), which currently has 50 Republican co-sponsors including powerful House Speaker Murrell Smith of Sumter, any S.C. law enforcement agency that operates a jail must enter into what’s called a 287(g) agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The agreements can range from detaining suspected illegal immigrants in local jails to street-level enforcement actions, such as accompanying federal officers on immigration raids and what critics call “show me your papers” traffic stops.
S.C. Rep. Travis Moore, R-Spartanburg, is the bill’s chief sponsor and chairman of the House subcommittee that approved it in a 3-1 vote.
“If we have people here illegally who are violating our laws, victimizing our fellow citizens, I do not believe it’s an unreasonable step to ask our local law enforcement agencies to coordinate with the federal government,” he told committee members.
But Orangeburg Democratic Rep. Jerry Govan pushed back, questioning the need for a mandate when local officials are already free to enter into 287 (g) agreements when they believe the benefits outweigh the costs in their communities.
“We need to be cautious in terms of making it harder for the folks who are enforcing our laws to do their jobs,” Govan said.
What’s more, he took issue with the suggestion by some that supporting the bill was synonymous with supporting public safety.
“Let me make this clear: there’s not anyone I’ve met in this General Assembly or the people who’ve testified who are against making the citizens of our state safer,” Govan said. “It concerns me as a lifelong South Carolinian and as an American that we’ve reached a point in this country where it’s us against them.”
A national report with local implications
The South Carolina action came on the same day a new national report from the American Civil Liberties Union alleged systematic problems with the 287(g) program, including racial profiling, civil rights violations and fear in targeted communities.
According to the report, participation in the program has grown dramatically since President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, exploding from 133 participating agencies to more than 1,000 today. In S.C., the ACLU reports, the number has grown from 3 to 37, from large counties like Charleston and Greenville to small towns such as Elloree and Pelion.
“ICE is enlisting thousands of state and local police to assist in operations that endanger citizens and noncitizens alike, draining local police resources and driving public fear that any interaction with local law enforcement could lead to violence and abuse,” the author’s report said in a release.
She added, “It has never been more dangerous to join ICE’s 287(g) program, both for the communities that fall into ICE’s grip by taking part, and the local law enforcement agencies that risk lawsuits and an enormous loss of public trust.”
While the Trump administration hasn’t responded directly to the report, Trump dismissed criticism of his deportation program in this week’s State of the Union address, saying that “the only thing standing between Americans and a wide-open border right now is President Donald J. Trump and our great Republican patriots in Congress.”
South Carolina community and religious leaders echoed the report’s concerns at a Thursday press conference sponsored by the ACLU of S.C.
“We have seen with our own eyes throughout the country that ICE has flagrant disregard for the law and complete disrespect for order,” said the Rev. Jenny McDevitt, pastor of Columbia’s Shandon Presbyterian Church. “Putting our state law enforcement in the position of collaboration and cooperation with ICE is naive and dangerous.”
Speaking for the ACLU of S.C., advocacy director Courtney Thomas referred to several recent high-profile incidents involving ICE officers around the country, including the shooting deaths of two Minnesota citizens.
Incidents like those, as well as large-scale immigration raids and “dragnets,” damage the trust and effectiveness of local law enforcement agencies that partner with ICE, she argued.
“All of this diverts resources away from solving actual crime,” she said in calling for state lawmakers to reject the bill.
The legislation now moves to the full S.C. House Judiciary Committee, where Chairman Weston Newton, R-Beaufort, is also a sponsor.
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