A new federal memo guiding the deportation of undocumented immigrants could undermine efforts by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office to cultivate those same people to assist in criminal prosecutions.

With the guidelines, released Monday by the Department of Homeland Security, the Sheriff’s Office finds itself straddling a divide between a long-standing effort to make inroads into immigrant communities and its agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to deport undocumented inmates under the federal 287(g) program. The Sheriff’s Office is one of 32 law enforcement agencies in the country that has partnered with ICE on the program, which is set for expansion under President Donald Trump.

Under President Barack Obama, deportations through the program had typically been reserved for serious offenders, according to several Jacksonville-based immigration attorneys. But Monday’s Homeland Security memo expanded the 287(g) program’s enforcement priorities, which were narrowed under the previous administration.

Effective immediately, the memos prioritize for deportation categories of people who would have previously been allowed to stay in the country — one example being those who have "committed acts that constitute a chargeable offense," a category seen as disconcertingly broad by the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

The shift in policy has the potential to affect the Sheriff’s Office’s International Affairs Unit, which has for nearly a decade helped to secure visas for certain undocumented immigrants who were victims of crime in exchange for cooperation in prosecutions. Now, some of those same crime victims could potentially be seen as priorities for deportation.

Lauri-Ellen Smith, a spokeswoman for the Sheriff’s Office, said it’s too early to tell how the president’s executive order and the federal guidelines will be implemented in Jacksonville, or how they might affect its international unit.

"It’s too early for us to comment on the [executive order] until the implementation rules are set and the impacted agencies meet and discuss," Smith said. "And too premature to talk about how implementation might impact any specific unit in the agency."

Nine Jacksonville-based immigration attorneys said that their clients have described a state of fear in many immigrant communities since the late-January executive orders pertaining to deportations.

One of those attorneys, Enrique Barquinero, described a "vast demographic of society on the verge of a panic attack."

"You have parents not sending their kids to school," Barquinero said. "You have people that could possibly have some communicable disease not seeking help."

The attorneys differ, however, on where the city is headed in the near future. Some see the recent federal guidelines as a blueprint for countywide mass deportations, while others believe that enforcement efforts will be less drastic. Tamara Spicer, an ICE spokeswoman, stressed that there are no plans to expand its partnership with the Sheriff’s Office beyond Duval County jails.

John Gihon, a former ICE attorney and Jacksonville prosecutor who now practices immigration law, said that ICE officers and attorneys themselves are "still trying to comprehend these memos and the implementation." He emphasized that the president’s actions on immigration have not expanded the law, but rather retooled how that law is enforced.

"This comes down to, politically, what do you think is the best thing?" Gihon said.

A HISTORY OF OUTREACH

Immigration attorneys spoke highly of past efforts by the Sheriff’s Office to reach immigrant communities, which became targets for criminals in the early 2000s. Back then, criminal gangs sought out undocumented people because they often carried cash and were afraid to report crimes to police, Gihon said.

"When I was a prosecutor, it was rampant," he said.

The Sheriff’s Office declined to make the head of the International Affairs Unit available for an interview, but immigration attorneys said the program has been less robust in recent years than it was under U.S. Rep. John Rutherford, who was sheriff until mid-2015.

A Sheriff’s Office annual report from 2015 laid out the duties of its International Affairs Unit officers. They included appearances on Spanish-language radio stations to conduct information campaigns, partnerships with Mexican and Honduran consulates to provide identification to undocumented people in Duval County, and workshops with local attorneys to educate Spanish speakers on how to avoid scams.

The goodwill garnered by the international unit, however, could be waning. Attorneys were split over whether they would tell undocumented clients to avoid contact with law enforcement in any capacity, given the uncertainty in the current climate.

"If I encounter a victim of a crime who has not contacted law enforcement, I still encourage them to do that," said Ericka Curran, a Florida Coastal School of Law professor and immigration law expert. "Even though I’m more nervous now."

Another immigration attorney, Stephanie Scarborough, said the program’s reach has narrowed considerably in the past year.

"My clients are worried about going to it now," Scarborough said. "They would be worried about any contact with law enforcement at this point."

THE FUTURE OF DEPORTATION

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is one of two law enforcement agencies in Florida to participate in the federal 287(g) program. A Sheriff’s Office spokesman said that there are currently four officers, one sergeant and one lieutenant who are trained under the 287(g) program and two additional officers awaiting training.

Rutherford said, "During my tenure as Sheriff, 2,281 illegal aliens from 175 countries were processed for deportation. Of those, we processed 387 criminal aliens that had been through the system twice, meaning they were deported but found their way back into our jail.

"These statistics in just one county are staggering and show how the 287(g) program can be a component of a strong immigration enforcement strategy to protect communities from criminal aliens."

There is a growing concern among immigration attorneys that deportations could become more widespread, to include longtime residents and those with families or children who are U.S. citizens.

"When you go to court, you don’t know for sure how anything is going to be taken anymore," said Rebecca Black, an immigration attorney in Jacksonville.

Black said that, for instance, she could have a client with significant ties to the community whom she would have advised differently three months ago than she would today.

"Now, I can’t tell them how it’s going to come out," she said. "That’s tough. … The message I’m getting from ICE is: ‘Deport them all.’ That’s what they’ve implied."

Ian Weldon, another immigration attorney, said that detention centers were operating at near-capacity even before Trump’s executive orders, but "since all the changes, it’s like a whole new level."

"We’re trying to roll with the changes just as much as ICE is, and everybody is really on edge about it," Weldon said. "We’re in real time here."

Ben Conarck: (904) 359-4103