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Ingram, Texas cop enrolled town in ICE 287(g) deportation program

newsOct 25, 2026152,043

Ingram, Texas, a 1.5-square-mile town of about 1,900 people rebuilding after a devastating flood, enrolled its tiny police department in ICE’s 287(g) program and within a year officers had delivered to immigration agents the equivalent of roughly 10 percent of the town. Patrol officer Jaron Alexander, who had been rehired in his hometown after a county sheriff’s office fired him following a 185-page internal investigation, was repeatedly involved in stops that led to detentions, including several tied to Joanna Martinez and her extended family. In the three months after the agreement, Alexander and Ingram’s other patrol officer handed at least 70 people to immigration agents. Alexander says he did not return to Ingram to deport neighbors but that enforcement became part of his duties; Martinez says those stops culminated in family members being taken, and one stop occurred weeks before she was due to give birth. ProPublica reporters documented specific encounters such as an October baptism gathering where Alexander initially found no wrongdoing and later traffic stops that produced detentions. The program’s rapid use by Ingram police fragmented families and intensified fear in the town, producing visible social fallout and long-term disruption to the community.

ProPublica
@propublica.org

NEW: Ingram, Texas, was just rebuilding from a devastating flood when its tiny police department enrolled in ICE’s 287(g) deportation program. Within a year, cops would hand over the equivalent of 10% of the town. with @nytimes.com

13684h ago
Erin 🦇🎃💀👻EEK👻💀🎃🦇 Kane
@dianamonkey.bsky.social

"Alexander says he didn’t come back to Ingram to help deport his neighbors... he just ended up making it part of his job. Alexander and Ingram’s other patrol officer had delivered at least 70 people to immigration agents. Within a year, they would hand over the equivalent of 10% of Ingram to ICE."

1895h ago
Quoting this
Danielle Froom 🏳️‍🌈58

Ten percent of an entire town, turned in and rounded up by their own neighbors.

Roy Edroso23

Great reporting, and a great portrait of an American Gestapo agent and how he lives with himself

Judith Butlerian Jihad9

This is an American 287g participant's version of shooting and crying. I don't think we should be listening to how torn these people are about all of this. They were given a gun, the badge and the public trust and this is what they have done regardless of their inner thoughts.

Larisa Aitch8

“Although I said I didn’t wanna do it I went ahead & did it & now imma put my name in the headlines so everybody in town knows who I am & what I voluntarily chose to do to my neighbors & their families & will do to my own friends & family as well because my job’s important & they're not”

Thomas Long6

This article is written in such a way to make you empathetic towards an officer who willingly rounded up dozens of his neighbors and handed them over to ICE, because he was getting 50% more pay for doing so. Fuck this guy. I feel nothing for him.

Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl5

Devastating and a very important read, versions of this happened 50,000 times in August. Abolish ICE.

Naïna3

What I found most disconcerting about the article was how the cop repeatedly has moments of self reflection struggling with his actions but then quickly finds reasons to justify it and convince himself he's still a good man. Echos of citizen collaborators in Nazi Germany or genocide era Rwanda.

Nicholas Sarwark3

This man should be more well known in his community.

Dr. Antifa Wine Mom, MD, MPH3

This is not just one asshole. This is the culture of policing. We need to rip it out and start over.

Kizri2

Yeah…it might be unpopular, but idk what to do with these people other than stripping them of the ability to work in law enforcement, prisons, and education. It’s either that or re-education.

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