Andrew Thrasher
@tituslegaldesign.com
Somewhere in Chicago, working near the intersection of immigration law, data, and technology. Not an attorney! 287(g) Program Tracker: tituslegaldesign.com/immigration-101/287g-program Newsletter: https://maxwellcommons.substack.com/
"As of late June, six motor truck drivers were carrying out deliveries (...). That’s three fewer than the department had before the shortage." Alexi Giannoulias' vision for Chicago: 1,000 more cops. Meanwhile, the city's 80+ library branches can solve their circulation backlog with 3 more drivers.
Block Club Chicago@blockclubchi.bsky.social · 3h agoThousands of books are piling up in Chicago libraries due to staffing shortage. blockclubchi.co/3TFy5Kj
Look who teamed up to write an op-ed in the Washington Examiner defending ICE for its absurd, dangerous 'UAC Safety Verification Initiative' 🙄 In case you missed it, I recently wrote about the bounty system they're using to outsource this work to ICE's Task Force 287(g) partner agencies.
Andrew Thrasher@tituslegaldesign.com · 3w agoPublishing this on a Friday night was certainly a choice, but here we are. If there's one thing I've written about the 287(g) program that I'd like everyone to read, it's this. My latest newsletter, on a $22,500 per-child bounty system.
Also, as I finish up edits to a first draft for this Field Guide to 287(g), I've finally added a proper methodology for the report here ⤵️, and would appreciate your feedback!
Report Methodology
How we record 287(g) agreements — and what the data can't tell you. Sources, processing rules, limitations, and citation guidance for the ICE 287(g) Program Tracker.
tituslegaldesign.com
Andrew Thrasher@tituslegaldesign.com · 2d agoUpdate here: I'm working on a 'field guide to 287(g)' for local journalists and community advocacy groups, including a rundown of FOIA search terms + program documents to include for more effective public records requests.
Instead, the federal government will be handing Burke Law Group, a private law firm, at least $150 million to try to rebuild this existing network of legal services capacity...as a 26-employee law firm with no immigration law experience. Sounds super fraud-y to me.
"Until Friday, ORR had a contract with the Acacia Center for Justice, but the federal govt. allowed that contract to expire after months of withholding funds to Acacia, and by extension, many of the nonprofits that served as 'subcontractors' and represented the majority of the children in ORR care."
Politico@politico.com · 18h ago26-employee Texas law firm gets $150M to represent 24,000 children in immigration court
"Until Friday, ORR had a contract with the Acacia Center for Justice, but the federal govt. allowed that contract to expire after months of withholding funds to Acacia, and by extension, many of the nonprofits that served as 'subcontractors' and represented the majority of the children in ORR care."
Politico@politico.com · 18h ago26-employee Texas law firm gets $150M to represent 24,000 children in immigration court
Look who teamed up to write an op-ed in the Washington Examiner defending ICE for its absurd, dangerous 'UAC Safety Verification Initiative' 🙄 In case you missed it, I recently wrote about the bounty system they're using to outsource this work to ICE's Task Force 287(g) partner agencies.
Andrew Thrasher@tituslegaldesign.com · 3w agoPublishing this on a Friday night was certainly a choice, but here we are. If there's one thing I've written about the 287(g) program that I'd like everyone to read, it's this. My latest newsletter, on a $22,500 per-child bounty system.
Aside from a formal methodology section, I've also added a report-specific FAQ section to this page with more details re: data enrichment + contract mechanics, as well as the known limitations in the data we have access to.
A third detainee died after being held at Delaney Hall, according to Rep. Rob Menendez (D-NJ), who said the death wasn’t disclosed to the public by Immigration and Customs Enforcement because the agency recently changed how it reports deaths of detainees. www.thecityreporter.nyc/2026/08/04/t...
A Third Delaney Hall Detainee Has Died, New Jersey Congressman Says
Rep. Rob Menendez said ICE confirmed details of the death, which took place weeks ago, to him during an oversight visit to the facility on Monday.
thecityreporter.nyc
NJ Rep. Menendez says he's confirmed another death of a detainee at Delaney Hall, bringing the count to now three people who've died there since it opened in 2025..... www.thecityreporter.nyc/2026/08/04/t...
A Third Delaney Hall Detainee Has Died, New Jersey Congressman Says
Rep. Rob Menendez said ICE confirmed details of the death, which took place weeks ago, to him during an oversight visit to the facility on Monday.
thecityreporter.nyc
Also, as I finish up edits to a first draft for this Field Guide to 287(g), I've finally added a proper methodology for the report here ⤵️, and would appreciate your feedback!
Report Methodology
How we record 287(g) agreements — and what the data can't tell you. Sources, processing rules, limitations, and citation guidance for the ICE 287(g) Program Tracker.
tituslegaldesign.com
Andrew Thrasher@tituslegaldesign.com · 2d agoUpdate here: I'm working on a 'field guide to 287(g)' for local journalists and community advocacy groups, including a rundown of FOIA search terms + program documents to include for more effective public records requests.
With news that the previously shuttered Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton, Minnesota is on its way to joining the ICE detention network... I made this map of existing DHS 'infrastructure' in MN back in January, which I've just updated to add Prairie. www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/e...
Minnesota's Immigration Infrastructure - Google My Maps
A multi-layered map of the federal facilities, U.S. ports of entry, and DHS partnerships related to our immigration system in Minnesota.
google.com
Hmm, the BIA just published a precedent decision where: - the respondent is a Haitian national - it sustains an appeal by DHS of an immigration judge's decision to terminate removal proceedings in June 2019 - refers to an interoffice USCIS memo from 2017 submitted by DHS to support the appeal.
justice.gov
There were 126 new 287(g) agreements added in the first three weeks of July. But since July 20th, ICE hasn't updated this list — a significant delay when you consider the normal cadence of updates has been every day or two since last January.
Andrew Thrasher@tituslegaldesign.com · yesterday15 days since the last update to ICE's list of active agreements.
Sounds like the kind of RFP that Erik Prince would be all over.
Project Salt Box@projectsaltbox.com · 23h agoNEW: CBP is shopping for a contractor to track down people the US has deported to Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala and collect unpaid immigration fines — debts that can top $1.8 million a person.
With news that the previously shuttered Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton, Minnesota is on its way to joining the ICE detention network... I made this map of existing DHS 'infrastructure' in MN back in January, which I've just updated to add Prairie. www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/e...
Minnesota's Immigration Infrastructure - Google My Maps
A multi-layered map of the federal facilities, U.S. ports of entry, and DHS partnerships related to our immigration system in Minnesota.
google.com
This is a 1,600 bed facility, so it will instantly become one of ICE's largest facilities. It will also be one of (if not the actual) largest ICE jail/prison in the midwest.
Project Salt Box@projectsaltbox.com · yesterday🚨ICE has awarded CoreCivic $536.2 million to operate the Prairie Correction Facility in Appleton, Minnesota as an immigration jail. The period of performance begins August 11.
🚨ICE has awarded CoreCivic $536.2 million to operate the Prairie Correction Facility in Appleton, Minnesota as an immigration jail. The period of performance begins August 11.
Unaccompanied migrant children at risk of losing legal representation
Thousands of unaccompanied migrant children could lose legal representation, now that a federal contract with legal aid groups representing the minors is expiring. That contract, held by the non-profi...
pbs.org
Andrew Thrasher@tituslegaldesign.com · 7d agoJust catching up on this story from yesterday re: city funding for Chicago's Legal Protection Fund. "To meet that need, the city’s Legal Protection Fund provides money to local groups that offer free legal aid and educate immigrant communities about their rights." A quick thread 🧵
There were 126 new 287(g) agreements added in the first three weeks of July. But since July 20th, ICE hasn't updated this list — a significant delay when you consider the normal cadence of updates has been every day or two since last January.
Andrew Thrasher@tituslegaldesign.com · yesterday15 days since the last update to ICE's list of active agreements.
As this program has ballooned in size/impact/funding/etc. since last January, we've learned a LOT about its operations through local journalism. Including: 1️⃣ the first service agreement for a Task Force agency (Owyhee County SO in ID), which was reimbursed $116,000 in program incentives.
Rural Idaho sheriff got at least $116,000 for helping ICE
Owyhee County is among hundreds of local law enforcement agencies getting paid to join ICE’s immigration crackdown
investigatewest.org
Including this breakdown of the multilayered contract system ICE is using to hide details on its bounty incentive system for Task Force 287(g) partner agencies that agree to assist the agency with its "UAC Safety Verification Initiative". bsky.app/profile/titu...
Andrew Thrasher@tituslegaldesign.com · 3w agoBtw: here's the infographic from the article, showing the layered contract system that ICE is using to hide details about the incentives they're offering to 287(g) partner agencies.
Update here: I'm working on a 'field guide to 287(g)' for local journalists and community advocacy groups, including a rundown of FOIA search terms + program documents to include for more effective public records requests.
Andrew Thrasher@tituslegaldesign.com · 3w agoWhat we do know comes largely from local public records requests from journalists, like @rachelspacek.bsky.social at @investigatewest.bsky.social, who secured the service agreement for the Owyhee County sheriff's office in Idaho.
The 287(g) program has expanded ICE's capacity to feed the deportation machine. But it also makes ICE more vulnerable to transparency efforts across this expanded surface area, particularly in the form of local reporting. We need to take advantage.
ICE, 287(g), and a Machine That Kills
For Orlín, Liam, the students at Funston Elementary, and the countless other children separated from family, jailed, or otherwise harmed by our federal government’s immigration enforcement + deportati...
open.substack.com
ICE is beginning to outfit Haitian immigrants with ankle monitors after the Trump admin ended their deportation protections www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
ICE begins outfitting Haitian immigrants with ankle monitors, attorneys say
Haitian immigrants in Ohio with temporary protected status are being called to ICE offices for check-ins after federal officials said their protections had ended.
washingtonpost.com
In announcing his campaign for Chicago mayor yesterday, one of the instant frontrunners in the race also shared plans to hire 1,000 more cops and bring back ShotSpotter. Meanwhile, IRL:
Chip Mitchell@chipmitchell1.bsky.social · 2d agoFEWEST JULY MURDERS SINCE 1963 #Chicago tallied 37 #murders in July. A @wbez.org analysis of police data finds there has been no July with fewer murders since 1963. Looking at all of 2026, murders are up 2% from 2025, a year that ended with the lowest Chicago murder count in six decades.
We just got back from Delaney Hall and we can confirm that Edwin Jovanny Lopez Cornejo died on Saturday while in ICE’s custody. More on what we heard today at Delaney:
The man's mother says she got a call from her son Friday evening saying he didn’t feel well and that part of his face and his right hand had gone numb. "They were going to do some exams, but they didn’t say when." The next day she got a call from the hospital asking her to identify her son's body.
A 39-year-old El Salvadoran man, who was being held at Delaney Hall, has died, the man's family says. He's the father of a 12-year-old US citizen daughter and has lived in the country for nearly 20 years. www.thecityreporter.nyc/2026/08/03/s...
El Salvadoran Man Held by ICE at Delaney Hall Dies, Family Says
The detainee had an extensive medical history, including epilepsy, according to a lawsuit. He had complained about his face and hand going numb just before his death, his mother said.
thecityreporter.nyc