Staff Reports
The U.S. Senate finally did something useful: it passed a roughly $70 billion Senate funding package to restore ICE and other border operations — and Pennsylvania constables say they are ready to help find missing unaccompanied alien children (UACs). After months of gridlock and confusing orders from Washington, local lawmen who signed 287(g) agreements are saying they can start doing the hard, on‑the‑ground work to welfare‑check children and serve warrants. It’s about time.
What changed in Washington
The main change is money and leadership. The Senate vote freed up funding for ICE and border security that supporters say will let agents and their local partners move from paper plans to door‑to‑door checks. Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin and the new DHS leadership also cleared layers of red tape so ICE’s UAC Safety Verification Initiative can get rolling. The program aims to verify hundreds of thousands of UAC placements that DHS and ICE say need checks — numbers the agencies describe in the hundreds of thousands — and local partners, including 287(g) signatories, are part of that effort.
Pennsylvania constables ready to step in
Constables in Pennsylvania argue they’re a practical, low‑cost way to get boots on the ground. Dozens of constables have signed 287(g) memoranda of agreement with ICE, which trains and authorizes them to perform specific immigration tasks under federal supervision. Damascus Township Constable Chris Lee and East Donegal Constable Paul Castline are among those who say they’ve finished training and have identified hundreds of UACs in their areas that need welfare checks. Constables point out they already serve a high volume of warrants and know their communities — a useful advantage when you’re trying to find missing kids instead of filing another paperwork request to a government inbox that never answers.
Scale of the problem and oversight gaps
There’s a reason this mission is urgent. DHS and ICE have publicly described a huge universe of past UAC placements — figures in the hundreds of thousands — and the DHS Office of Inspector General found that ICE could not effectively monitor the location and status of all those children after they left federal custody. That failure created risk: trafficking, abuse, and exploitation. In other states, coordinated operations turned up thousands of kids who needed help. If local constables can help welfare‑check, verify sponsors, and find kids in danger, their work deserves the funding and the legal backing to get it done.
Politics, pushback, and a simple test
All this has predictably produced protests and legal fights. Critics worry about civil‑rights risks from expanding 287(g) partnerships, and those concerns deserve real answers and guardrails. But the basic test is simple: do the actions protect vulnerable children and communities, or do they leave kids unaccounted for while bureaucrats play defense? After months of Washington dithering, the Senate supply line is open and constables are ready. Lawmakers should quit grandstanding, give clear rules and oversight, and let trained local officers do the work of finding and protecting children. If you care about kids — and public safety — it’s time to stop arguing and start knocking on doors.
