Imitate, Then Escalate: Social Influence and Its Consequences for the Subfederal Deportation System in the United States

By Ian G. Peacock 

I examine how social influence shapes both the adoption and implementation of 287(g) agreements—federal-local contracts that deputize local law enforcement to enforce immigration law. Drawing on organizational theory, the article highlights the role of public official associations (POAs) in diffusing interest in these agreements across counties. Using data on application letters and quasi-experimental methods, the study shows that counties with stronger ties to POAs were more likely to express interest in 287(g) agreements and to imitate language used by peer jurisdictions. It then links this imitation to variation in enforcement intensity: Counties that closely copied others’ applications were more likely to escalate their institutional commitment, including devoting more jail space to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees, complying with ICE detainer requests at higher rates, and becoming more central to ICE’s detainee transfer network. This suggests that social influence may shape not only entry into immigration enforcement but also its long-term implementation.