Since President Donald Trump returned to the Oval Office in January, 11 Utah law enforcement agencies have signed deals with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to give their officers immigration policing powers.

Before the second Trump administration, none had signed so-called 287(g) agreements with the federal government — evidence of the president’s push to crack down on immigration with the help of state and municipal agencies .

The surge of local governments doing federal immigration enforcement work worries Aaron Welcher, spokesperson for the Utah chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, because multiple studies have shown that such agreements don’t increase public safety.

“This doesn’t actually lead to people being more safe,” Welcher said. “It leads to a lot of

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