These local sheriffs are already preparing to help Trump carry out his mass deportation plans

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Trump is also likely to get support from the insurgent “constitutional sheriff” movement, a growing trend of local, often right-wing, sheriffs who believe they are the final word on what’s legal and constitutional in their jurisdictions — even if state or federal laws or Supreme Court decisions say otherwise. open image in gallery Sheriffs like Frederick County, Maryland’s Chuck Jenkins, left, will be key allies in the Trump administration’s deportation plans Through Trump’s political rise, he’s sought to tie himself to hardline local sheriffs who crack down on immigration, including Joe Arpaio, the notorious, now-former, sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona. open image in gallery Trump has long aligned with former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was accused of racially profiling Latinos as he sought to crack down on immigration Throughout both Republican and Democratic administrations, local sheriffs have cooperated with federal immigration officials through initiatives like the 287 program. A report from the group analyzed the more than 140 local law enforcement agencies in the program as of 2022 and found that at least 59 percent of the sheriff’s in the program have a record of “anti-immigrant, xenophobic rhetoric” and 65 percent have shown a “pattern of racial profiling and other civil rights violations, including excessive use of force.” In 2021, a Latina woman in Frederick County, one such jurisdiction, won a lawsuit accusing deputies of stopping her on false claims of a broken tail light and interrogating her over her immigration status.