County Sheriffs and Immigration and Customs Enforcement: The Will of the People or a Lack of Accountability?

Abstract

County sheriffs hold a great deal of discretionary power at the county level; however, little is known about the decision-making of sheriffs. One key role they hold is overseeing county jails. In this role, county sheriffs choose how often to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) when they make a detainer request of the county. This study investigates the factors influencing sheriffs’ decision making, specifically whether sheriffs make discretionary decisions based on the will of the people. Using ICE data about cooperation with county jails, and Cooperative Congregational Election Study (CCES) data, we assess if sheriff cooperation with ICE is politically motivated, in congruence with preferences of the voters countywide, or are other factors potentially influencing sheriffs. We find that sheriffs’ decision to cooperate with ICE is influenced by the demographics and economy of their county rather than their own political affiliation or their county’s ideological stance on immigration.

Keywords

Sheriffs local law enforcement local politics immigration democratic accountability

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