287(g) task force model launched in Mecklenburg County

Mecklenburg County Sheriff Jim Pendergraph became the first East Coast sheriff to use section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act for street-level civil immigration enforcement, moving beyond the original jail-screening model. ICE authorized Pendergraph's deputies to stop and question people in public on immigration status grounds, extending the program well beyond what it was originally designed to do. DHS appropriated $5.4 million for 287(g) in fiscal year 2006, and by year-end ICE had received 69 new applications from jurisdictions seeking similar agreements.