A Small Case with Big Impact
A suit filed against the City of Las Vegas and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) could have national implications for President Donald Trump’s mass deportation effort by limiting the offenses for which individuals can be held on immigration detainers under the 287(g) program.
What’s This 287(g) Thing Anyway?
Think of the 287(g) program like a team-up between your local police and federal immigration agents. The program was created under the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act and allows ICE to authorize state and local law enforcement officers to perform specific immigration enforcement duties under ICE’s supervision.
Here’s how it works in simple terms. When local cops arrest someone, they can hold that person for an extra 48 hours so ICE can come pick them up. As of 2025, 360 law enforcement agencies nationwide have agreements under 287(g), according to the latest data from ICE.
The Vegas Problem
Now here’s where it gets interesting: Two people in Las Vegas are saying the feds went too far.
The plaintiffs in the Las Vegas case, Alicia Ines Moya Garay and Juan Jaime Lopez-Jimenez, were arrested for unpaid traffic tickets, kept in the Las Vegas jail beyond their scheduled release, and turned over to ICE without warrants, according to Nevada Current.
Their lawyer says the law only lets ICE ask local police to hold people who are arrested for drug crimes. Everything else? That’s supposedly off limits.
But this is where it gets complicated: The suit asserts that federal law allows ICE to request detainers from local police only in arrests involving controlled substances, and that ICE is acting beyond its scope and authority by asking law enforcement agencies to hold those arrested for any other offense, with the exception of theft crimes covered by the Laken Riley Act.
However, the reality on the ground is different.
When a foreign-born individual is arrested and charged with a violent felony, domestic violence, DUI, burglary, theft, larceny, petit larceny, and/or assault of a law enforcement officer the Detention Services Division will notify ICE at both booking and release, according to Las Vegas Metro Police.
ICE says it works with local law enforcement to deport removable aliens involved in gang activity, violent crimes, human smuggling, organized crime, sex offenses, drug smuggling, money laundering and many other crimes.
Why This Matters for Conservatives
For folks who believe in limited government, this case touches on something really important. Are federal agencies following the law as Congress wrote it, or are they making up their own rules? “I think the law is clearly on our side, especially since the Supreme Court got rid of the Chevron Doctrine,” said Herrera, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) attorney.
The Chevron Doctrine, which was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court last year, held that courts, faced with an ambiguous statute, should defer to a federal agency’s interpretation of the law, as long as the interpretation was reasonable.
This actually helps conservatives who want agencies to stick to what Congress actually said, not what bureaucrats think it should say.
But it creates a problem: Trump’s deportation plan relies in part on cooperation from local law enforcement agencies to detain foreign-born individuals for 48 hours beyond their scheduled release so ICE agents can take them into custody.
If this lawsuit wins, it could seriously limit how Trump removes people from the country, unless Congress writes clearer laws.
What the Other Side Says
Immigration activists love this lawsuit. They say 287(g) programs hurt communities and make immigrants afraid to call police when they’re victims of crimes.
Juan Cuba, with the Miami Freedom Project, said:
“287(g) agreements are fundamentally at odds with the goals of local policing.They erode community trust in local law enforcement and make it less likely for people who are undocumented, or families of mixed status, to call 911 or report crimes,”
The Numbers Tell a Story
The facts show this program has real impact. Documents obtained by MALDEF in the case reveal the city provided ICE with information for detainers for 1,680 people between Jan. 1, 2017, and Feb. 28, 2019. Of those, ICE picked up 1,139 arrestees.
The number of agreements decreased significantly toward the end of President Barack Obama’s administration and jumped back up during Trump’s first term, with the number of MOUs increasing from 35 to 150 — 300 percent — from 2017 to 2020.
What Happens Next?
Last week, Traum denied the federal government’s motion to dismiss four causes of action in the suit against the City of Las Vegas and ICE, including the plaintiffs’ claim that ICE is exceeding its authority via the 287(g) program, and violating the Fourth Amendment, which protects citizens and immigrants from being detained without probable cause.
If the judge sides with the plaintiffs, “We would argue that depending on which court decides on it, that it could apply nationally,” Herrera said, adding the issue of national applicability could be determined by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the case regarding Trump’s ban on birthright citizenship.
Also, remember that this is about following the law as written, not as bureaucrats wish it was written. That’s a principle all conservatives should support, even when it might slow down policies we like.
The courts will decide this case, but Congress has the power to write clearer laws. Make sure your voice is heard about what you want those laws to say.
This article was written with the assistance of AI. Please verify information and consult additional sources as needed.
