KVIG Informative

The ACLU of Nevada has appealed its lawsuit against LVMPD’s 287(g) immigration enforcement agreement to the Nevada Supreme Court. The case raises fundamental questions about the role of local police in federal deportation operations.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada has escalated its legal challenge against the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s cooperation agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, appealing to the Nevada Supreme Court after lower court proceedings did not resolve the underlying dispute. The agreement in question is a 287(g) contract — a federal program that authorizes local law enforcement agencies to perform certain immigration enforcement functions on behalf of ICE.

Under LVMPD’s 287(g) agreement, officers in the department’s detention facilities can screen individuals for immigration status and transfer them to federal immigration custody. The ACLU argues the arrangement effectively turns local jail staff into immigration agents, violating Nevada’s sanctuary-adjacent policies and exposing immigrants — including those who have not been convicted of any crime — to deportation proceedings that would not otherwise occur through local law enforcement contact.

LVMPD has defended the agreement as a public safety tool targeting individuals who have committed serious crimes. Department officials have argued the 287(g) program is limited in scope and does not result in indiscriminate immigration enforcement. The department entered the agreement during a period of intensifying pressure from the Trump administration, which has moved aggressively to expand local law enforcement participation in federal immigration operations nationwide.

The ACLU’s appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court signals the organization believes the legal question is significant enough to warrant the state’s highest court weighing in. The case touches on the limits of local government authority, the rights of detainees in county jails, and whether Nevada’s state policies provide any meaningful protection against federal immigration enforcement conducted through local intermediaries.

The lawsuit is one of several legal challenges the ACLU of Nevada has pursued in recent months related to immigration enforcement in the Las Vegas Valley. The organization has also been monitoring federal threats to deploy immigration agents at polling places ahead of the 2026 midterm elections — a prospect that Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar has called a felony if it amounts to voter intimidation.

How the Nevada Supreme Court handles the LVMPD case could have implications beyond Clark County. Other Nevada jurisdictions are watching the outcome closely, as are immigrant advocacy organizations that have pushed for statewide limits on local cooperation with ICE. The decision, whenever it comes, will help define what Nevada’s law enforcement agencies can and cannot do in the current federal immigration enforcement environment.