The amendment would alter the current proposal by the House Appropriations Committee which budgeted a $44 million dollar increase above the White House requested amount and cut $3.4 million from the administration’s line item for the Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.
Last year, the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, Black Caucus, Hispanic Caucus and Progressive Caucus called upon Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to “finally end the ill-conceived, discriminatory 287(g) program.”
The program began in 2001 and was championed by Sheriffs like Joe Arpaio in Maricopa County, Arizona. Sheriff Arpaio, currently embattled in a recent court ruling finding him guilty of racial profiling claims it was the 287(g) program that trained him to use race as a factor.
In February of last year, it was reported that the White House planned to shut down the 287(g) program. Many pointed to the scandals and increase in civil rights violations in counties where 287(g) was activated as reason to end the program.
It’s implementation and comments by its proponents such as, “If you don’t have enough evidence to charge someone criminally but you think he’s illegal, we can make him disappear.” have caused a chilling effect that as made it so nearly half of Latinos are less likely to call the police if victim of a crime.