Local police sign on to immigration enforcement in record numbers

WASHINGTON — State and local law enforcement agencies are joining federal immigration enforcement at a record pace, bringing immigration checks into traffic stops and other routine policing across much of the country.

More than 1,850 state and local agencies had joined Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s 287(g) Task Force Model as of Oct. 1, according to an analysis released Wednesday and summarized by the National Immigration Forum. The model, which the Trump administration revived in 2025, lets deputized officers enforce immigration law during everyday police work rather than only after someone is already in a local jail.

More than 29,000 state and local officers have been deputized through the 287(g) program, according to ICE.

A ‘shadow surge’

The partnerships have become a major driver of immigration arrests. After federal agents wound down high-profile enforcement operations in Minneapolis and Chicago earlier this year, President Donald Trump promised mass deportations with “a little bit of a softer touch.”

But a Marshall Project analysis of ICE data, published earlier this month using records from the Deportation Data Project at the University of California, Berkeley, and UCLA, found that arrests have climbed dramatically in many places as local police lean into the agreements. Roughly 2,000 state and local agencies have signed agreements to conduct immigration stops or hand over people held in local jails, the analysis found.

States such as Missouri and Ohio have relatively small numbers of immigration arrests on a national scale, but each has seen arrests rise as local departments cooperate with ICE, according to the analysis.

Texas leads the way

Texas has signed more than 400 287(g) agreements, with more than 140 pending, according to ICE data. The state’s law enforcement agencies recently worked with ICE on a 10-day statewide operation that the Department of Homeland Security said led to 4,170 arrests.

Supporters say the program lets the federal government multiply its reach without hiring thousands of new agents. They argue that local officers are best positioned to identify people who pose public safety risks and that cooperation keeps dangerous offenders from being released back into communities.

Federal funding has helped speed the expansion. States Newsroom reported this month that money for local police enforcement accelerated the administration’s crackdown.

Concerns from critics

Critics say the rapid growth is straining relationships between police and the communities they serve. Immigrant advocates argue that people may be less likely to report crimes or cooperate with investigations if they fear that any contact with police could lead to deportation.

An analysis by Stateline earlier this year found that the share of ICE arrests involving people with criminal convictions has fallen as overall arrests have increased, suggesting more “collateral” arrests of people found during searches for others.

In some communities, the agreements have become local political issues. In Doral, Florida, business owners and residents urged the city this month to end its agreement with ICE, while the mayor pledged to follow the law, CBS News reported.

What’s next

The administration has said deportations will keep rising into 2027. White House border czar Tom Homan has predicted that September would bring the most deportations of any month in ICE’s history.

The future of the program could become a point of debate when Democrats take control of Congress in January. Funding for ICE and its partnerships runs through the appropriations process, and the current stopgap spending bill expires Dec. 11.

The 287(g) program takes its name from the section of the Immigration and Nationality Act that authorizes the partnerships. It was created by a 1996 law. The task force model was ended in 2012 under President Barack Obama before the Trump administration revived it.