Research Note Researched

Pennsylvania 287(g) Surge — Constables as a Backdoor, Program Paused

What

By early 2026, ICE claimed roughly 68-73 Pennsylvania law-enforcement agencies had signed 287(g) agreements — essentially all in 2025, most under the task-force model. Strikingly, 20 of the ~73 signatories are constables — more than a quarter of the state’s total. Named examples include Lansdowne Constable Jerome Fletcher and Honey Brook Constable David Jones Sr., who are contracted by counties for tasks like transporting people to court and working the polls.

Why It Matters

Pennsylvania constables are elected officials with narrow statutory duties; the ACLU of Pennsylvania argues they have no legal authority to enforce immigration law and that ICE used them to bypass the requirement that police departments obtain advance approval from their local governing body before joining 287(g). After several constables completed the first parts of ICE’s online immigration-law training, they were told the program was paused for constables and their participation suspended — an apparent retreat from the constable-recruitment strategy. This is the statewide backdrop to the municipal 287(g) chaos documented in Allegheny County, where police chiefs signed (and reversed) agreements unilaterally in apparent Sunshine Act violations.

Sources

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