{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://mcbride.house.gov/media/press-releases/mcbride-quigley-jayapal-foushee-reintroduce-protect-immigration-act-keep-local", "McBride, Quigley, Jayapal, Foushee Reintroduce PROTECT Immigration Act to Keep Local Police Focused on Public Safety", "2025-12-18", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "House", "DE", "Sarah McBride", "M001238", "mcbride.house.gov", "mcbride", "https://mcbride.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 Today, U.S. Representative Sarah McBride (DE-At-Large) joined Representatives Mike Quigley (IL-05), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), and Valerie Foushee (NC-04) in reintroducing the Protecting the Rights of Towns Against Federal Enforcement Contrary to Constitutional Tenets (PROTECT) Immigration Act, legislation to end the federal government\u2019s practice of deputizing state and local law enforcement officers to enforce immigration law. A livestream of the press conference is available here and Rep. McBride\u2019s full remarks can be found here.\n\nThe PROTECT Immigration Act would repeal the statutory authority for the Department of Homeland Security\u2019s 287(g) program, which allows DHS to enter into agreements with local police departments to carry out federal immigration enforcement. It would also clarify that state and local law enforcement do not have \u201cinherent authority\u201d to arrest individuals for suspected civil immigration violations. Advocates and law enforcement leaders have long warned that the program undermines public safety by eroding trust between police and the communities they serve.\n\n\"I\u2019m proud to co-lead this legislation with Congressman Quigley to restore trust, safety, and integrity to our immigration system,\u201dsaid Rep. McBride. \u201cFor too long, the 287(g) program has drained local resources, fueled racial profiling, and made communities less safe \u2014 and it\u2019s time we end it. The PROTECT Immigration Act makes clear that immigration enforcement belongs with trained federal authorities, guaranteeing that local law enforcement can focus exclusively on keeping our communities safe. This bill would take a step toward restoring trust between local communities and police departments so every family can live with dignity and without fear.\u201d\n\nThe Trump administration has rapidly expanded the 287(g) program, using it as a tool to advance a mass deportation agenda that has sown fear in immigrant communities and diverted local law enforcement away from core public safety responsibilities.\n\n\u201cThe Trump administration just spent months terrorizing immigrants in the Chicagoland area. Their actions led to domestic violence victims fleeing a courthouse rather than receive restraining orders against their abusers, all out of fear that ICE or local law enforcement would detain and deport them,\u201d said Rep. Quigley. \u201cI met with immigrants and their neighbors who are afraid to call for help or report crimes in their neighborhoods because of Trump\u2019s deliberate erosion of trust between communities and local police. And now the Trump administration is running ads targeting local police and offering $50,000 signing bonuses to pull critical law enforcement away from day-to-day policing in order to arrest and detain hardworking immigrants with no criminal records. We must bring an end to the 287(g) program and cut off one of the avenues this administration has exploited to intimidate immigrant communities.\u201d\n\n\u201cAllowing local law enforcement to be deputized to kidnap and disappear immigrants undercuts the trust that local police rely on to maintain public safety in our communities,\u201d said Rep. Jayapal. \u201cImmigrants and their U.S. citizen loved ones stop reporting crimes out of fear of being kidnapped and deported. Local police are spread thin enforcing federal civil immigration law. We know that Trump is not targeting criminals, he is targeting our friends, neighbors, co-workers, and pillars of our community. This lawlessness must end immediately.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Trump Administration\u2019s attempt to expand the 287(g) Program is a direct assault on civil rights and the Constitution,\u201d said Rep. Foushee. \u201cHaving served in local law enforcement for more than 20 years, I know policing should protect and support our communities, not divide it, and deputizing local officers into immigration enforcers only erodes public trust, undermines public safety, and deepens fear. We need laws in place that restore fairness and uphold justice. That\u2019s why I\u2019m proud to join my colleagues in introducing the PROTECT Immigration Act, which will reverse this harmful program and take an important step toward repairing the flaws in our broken immigration system.\u201d\n\nCivil rights and immigration advocates also voiced strong support for the legislation.\n\n\u201cIn just one year, the Trump administration has massively expanded the 287(g) program and distorted it in ways Congress never intended, exploiting local law enforcement resources for its dystopian mass deportation agenda,\u201d said Naureen Shah, Director of Policy and Government Affairs for the ACLU\u2019s Equality Division. \u201cEnlisting local law enforcement for mass deportations isn\u2019t just a waste of taxpayer dollars \u2013 it terrorizes our communities, undermines public safety and fuels racial profiling. We thank Congressman Quigley for his leadership and urge our members of Congress to pass the PROTECT Immigration Act without delay.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe rapid expansion of the 287(g) program under the Trump administration represents yet another way that mass deportation undermines public safety for all Americans,\u201d said Nayna Gupta, Policy Director at the American Immigration Council. \u201cWhen local police serve as a force multiplier for ICE, people become more afraid to report crime and less trusting of local police officers. Local law enforcement agencies should prioritize real public safety concerns in their communities rather than waste limited manpower making traffic stops that turn into detention and deportation for long-standing community members who pose no threat. The PROTECT Act takes the overdue step of repealing a program that is unnecessary for effective enforcement of immigration laws, but continues to have a harmful track record for public safety.\u201d\n\nA livestream of the press conference is available here and Rep. McBride\u2019s full remarks can be found here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://mcbride.house.gov/media/press-releases/mcbride-quigley-jayapal-foushee-reintroduce-protect-immigration-act-keep-local"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0539048817008734, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}