Trump’s Presidency Will Unleash Right-Wing Sheriffs Across America

A week after Donald Trump won the presidency for the second time, an Ohio sheriff named Richard Jones issued a press release titled “BUSES FUELED. WE STAND AT THE READY.” It went on to state that Jones was prepared to “fully cooperate” with Trump’s plan for “mass deportations.” “In relation to deportations,” Jones wrote, “I have been an advocate of closed borders for decades and it is my duty to continue this effort for the safety and security of our community.”

Jones, whose previous claims to media fame includes the serving of an unidentified meat patty to people unfortunate enough to be incarcerated inside his jail, has given interviews with multiple media outlets declaring himself a loyal soldier for Trump’s plans, whatever they might be. (Jones has been vague about exactly how he will help, telling the Wall Street Journal, “We’re going to do our part.”)

Donald Trump was clear throughout his campaign that he would give law enforcement a new mandate for violence. He promised them “one really violent day” and has fantasized about engaging in Duterte-style tactics. Sheriffs have the most to gain under Trump’s presidency. Not only were these county officials instrumental in getting Trump elected across the country, they are, on the whole, more likely to respond to Trump’s political agenda because they can. As independently elected officials, sheriffs are free to support political candidates and operate without the oversight of other officials. 

Shortly after the election, Trump announced a new “Border Czar,” Tom Homan, who led ICE during part of Trump’s first term on a temporary basis. (Like many of Trump’s appointments, Homan was never confirmed by the Senate and left his post in 2018.) Local law enforcement officials, many of whom endorsed Trump, also celebrated Homan’s return, casting it as an end to the Biden administration’s irritating insistence on police accountability to go with the abundant funding. 

After leaving the Trump administration, Homan has focused on propaganda efforts to falsely paint most immigrants as “criminals” who are responsible for drug trafficking and violent crimes. Homan’s proposed new job is, as yet, undefined, although he is currently acting as though he will be responsible for executing Trump’s deportation scheme.

We can also expect sheriffs to get involved in other aspects of policing that align with Trump’s goals.

The first and most obvious project for right-wing sheriffs will be their involvement in Trump’s “mass deportation” efforts. Because sheriffs run jails, they have more involvement in the criminalization to deportation pipeline. Under Trump 1.0, many sheriffs clamored to join the 287(g) program, which enables deputies to act as immigration officials, a “force multiplier” in the words of ICE. (Under President Joe Biden, sadly, most sheriffs remained in the 287(g) program, and the president has not heeded calls to eliminate it.) 

In addition to Jones, other sheriffs have expressed eagerness to participate in the jailing and screening of those potentially eligible for deportation. Richard Mack, no longer a sheriff and the founder of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, has expressed his support for “mass deportations,” saying, “Sheriffs, why would they back away? The political wave, the red wave, is behind them.” (He also claims he’s “been in touch” with Homan.) A Texas sheriff says he is “compiling a list” of sheriffs who will assist in deportations. In Montana, Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke (who was Trump’s secretary of the interior until he was forced to resign) asked a county sheriff if he was ready to “round up” immigrants. The sheriff said he was.

Discriminatory policing practices — in other words, intentionally targeting people who appear to be immigrants for arrest — are, in essence, racial profiling, the same illegal policing that nearly put ex-sheriff Joe Arpaio in jail (until Trump pardoned him.) This time, Trump has promised that his Department of Justice will not focus on enforcing consent decrees, legal ways for courts to require police and sheriff departments to reform, so, presumably, targeting immigrants will not be deterred.

Mass deportation also promises mass jailing, including the use of contracts with county jails, run by sheriffs, to hold people for ICE and the U.S. Marshals. Under Trump’s first administration, rules outlining the treatment of immigrants were relaxed, allowing for the proliferation of inhumane practices like solitary confinement, poor medical care and family separation. Despite all of the funding from Biden’s administration, county jails remain dangerous, and overcrowding them with those awaiting immigration hearings will only make them more so. 

We don’t need to look far to see how those abuses lead to violence and death. In some ICE facilities, women were subjected to involuntary sterilization. (This may become a greater concern now that abortion access is extremely limited in most states and, for those in county jails, subject to the whims of the county sheriff.) In Massachusetts, ex-sheriff Thomas Hodgson used dogs and tear gas to attack people inside of his ICE facility. At least two dozen people died in ICE detention during Trump’s first term. A report found that 68 people died in ICE custody from 2017 through 2021.

We can also expect sheriffs to get involved in other aspects of policing that align with Trump’s goals. For example, Trump has shown himself to be uniquely hostile to protestors, asking at one point if he could just shoot Black Lives Matter protestors. Many sheriffs share these prejudices. 

As I report in my book, the 2020 protests against police brutality moved right-wing sheriffs to cooperate with armed militia groups and promote antifa conspiracy theories. This anti-protestor sentiment has been directed towards student protestors on college campuses, with Trump saying he would consider deportations for students who protested for Palestinian human rights.

Already, there have been signs across the country that far-right agitators feel emboldened to act, largely in the form of anonymous, racist texts and white power displays. Alongside neo-Nazis staging marches, militia groups on the border have promised to lend their support over to sheriffs. It’s hard to tell the vigilantes from the law enforcement. But then again, in Trump’s America, isn’t that the point?

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Jessica Pishko is an independent journalist and lawyer who focuses on how the criminal justice system and law enforcement intersects with political power. As a contributor to Democracy Docket, Pishko writes about the criminalization of elections and how sheriffs in particular have become a growing threat to democracy.