How Law Enforcement Can Better Engage Immigrant Communities Promising Practices and Challenges from a National Survey and Regional Meetings

By The Police Executive Research Forum

  The United States is facing a migration crisis that has placed unprecedented strains on communities across the country. The U.S.-Mexico border is overwhelmed with arriving asylum seekers. In fiscal year 2023, there were 2.5 million encounters between U.S. border authorities and migrants attempting to cross into the U.S., a new high. Encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border have surged since the federal Title 42 policy, under which most asylum seekers were expelled without being allowed to apply for asylum, ended in May 2023. Also in 2023, for the first time ever, migrants from beyond Mexico and northern Central America represented a majority of the irregular arrivals at and between ports of entry. These individuals, resettling in communities all across the U.S., bring with them a wide range of cultures that local police agencies must take into account when serving their communities. For more than two decades Congress has been unable to pass meaningful immigration reform, and the near-term outlook for legislation remains bleak. The combination of rising migration and a broken immigration and border enforcement system has created unsafe environments. State and local authorities are desperate for solutions, and some are turning to anti-immigration policies that instill fear and confusion over the role of local law enforcement. Texas lawmakers, for example, passed legislation in November 2023 (blocked by a federal judge on February 29th, 2024 and, as of the  publication of this report, likely heading to the Supreme Court9 ) that would empower police to arrest immigrants suspected of entering the country illegally, blurring the lines between local law enforcement and what has historically been a federal government responsibility.10 Other state and local authorities are committed to welcoming immigrants but have struggled to cope with the sheer number of new arrivals. Police need the cooperation of the communities they serve to promote public safety through increased crime reporting and participation in investigations. It is critical that police form trusting relationships with immigrant populations, both recent arrivals and those already established in this country. PERF conducted this project to explore how law enforcement agencies are working to engage and build trust with the immigrant communities they serve and to identify promising practices.   

Washington, DC: Police Executive Research Forum, 2024. 69p.