PHOENIX — To build his highly touted deportation force, President Donald Trump is reviving a program that deputizes local officers to enforce federal immigration law.
The program received scant attention as Trump announced on the same day his plans to build a border wall and hire thousands more federal agents as he looks to fulfill promises from his campaign.
The program has fallen out of the favor in recent years amid complaints from critics that it promotes racial profiling.
More than 60 police and sheriff's agencies had the special authority in 2009.
Since then, the number has been halved and the effort scaled back amid complaints officers weren't focusing on catching violent offenders and instead arrested immigrants for minor violations.
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