Local Law Enforcement and Immigration: Lessons and Recommendations from Police Executives (2007-2021) Tonya D. Chapman ABSTRACT The Immigration and Reform Control Act (IRCA) of 1986 and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) authorized the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) to enter into memoranda of agreement with local law enforcement under section 287(g). The 287(g) program includes the Task Force Model (TFM), Jail Enforcement Model (JEM), Secure Communities (SC), the Priority Enforcement Program (PEP) model and the Warrant Service Officer (WSO) Model, which authorizes specific responsibilities of immigration enforcement to local law enforcement agencies. This dissertation examines the impact of local law enforcement's participation in the various 287(g) programs from the perspective of law enforcement executives. Local law enforcement was granted the responsibility in part because Congress and local elected officials believed that immigration increased crime. However, as of 2022, little research on the nexus between crime and immigration supports that claim; nor does it support the claim that crime rates fell as a result of local law enforcement's participation in the 287(g) programs. Consistent with prior research, this dissertation finds that immigration enforcement has a "null or non-significant" effect on crime in these jurisdictions in comparison to jurisdictions that did not participate in the 287(g) programs. Moreover, this dissertation shows that law enforcement's participation in immigration enforcement led to unintended consequences, including adverse impacts on police legitimacy (trust and fear), perceived crime reporting by immigrant communities, and their community policing efforts. This research provides guidance on best practices to law enforcement in an effort to re-imagine the profession in accordance with procedural justice principles. It examines whether and how immigration enforcement has posed challenges for building trust, legitimacy, community engagement and transparency for law enforcement; looks at whether federal mandates and immigration enforcement affected the advancement of community policing and procedural justice; provides insight on lessons learned from law enforcement's perspective; and contributes to research on the immigration-crime nexus. / Doctor of Philosophy / Local Law Enforcement and Immigration: Lessons and Recommendations from Police Executives (2007-2021) Tonya D. Chapman GENERAL AUDIENCE ABSTRACT Section 287(g) under the Immigration and Reform Control Act (IRCA) of 1986 and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) authorized the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) to enter into memoranda of agreement with local law enforcement agencies to participate in immigration enforcement. Under Section 287(g), ICE implemented 5 programs, including the Task Force Model (TFM), Jail Enforcement Model (JEM), Secure Communities (SC), the Priority Enforcement Program (PEP) model, and the Warrant Service Officer (WSO) model. This dissertation examines the impact of local law enforcement's participation in the 287(g) programs, from the perspective of law enforcement executives. This dissertation shows that law enforcement's participation in immigration enforcement led to unintended consequences, including adverse impacts on police legitimacy (trust and fear), perceived crime reporting by immigrant communities, and their community policing efforts. The dissertation also finds that immigration enforcement has a "null or non-significant" effect on crime. This research provides guidance on best practices to law enforcement in an effort to re-imagine the profession in accordance with fair and impartial policing principles.