Executive Summary
- ICE has signed over 1,130 new 287(g) agreements in 2025, totaling 1,412 active partnerships.
- The expansion follows President Trump’s executive order to maximize local police cooperation in immigration enforcement.
- Three operational models are in use, with the Task Force Model granting the broadest arrest powers to local police.
- States are divided, with Florida mandating participation while Virginia and Maryland move to block the agreements.
Washington, D.C. — The use of the federal 287(g) program, which deputizes local law enforcement officers to assist in federal immigration enforcement, has expanded dramatically during the second term of President Donald Trump. According to data released by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the agency has signed more than 1,130 new agreements in 2025 alone, bringing the total number of active partnerships to 1,412 across 40 states and territories as of February 13, 2026.
This rapid expansion aligns with the executive order signed by President Trump on his first day in office, titled “Protecting the American People from Invasion.” The directive instructed the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to maximize the use of 287(g) agreements to create an effective model for enforcing federal immigration laws. In contrast, during the President’s first term in 2019, only 45 such agreements were signed.
The 287(g) program, originally established in 1996, permits state and local officers to perform functions of federal immigration agents, including investigating, questioning, and arresting individuals for immigration violations. DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin stated that these partnerships are critical resources designed to “arrest criminal illegal aliens across the country” and enhance national safety. DHS reported approximately 675,000 deportations by January 2026.
According to ICE data, the program utilizes three primary operational models. The “Jail Enforcement Model” screens individuals booked into local jails for immigration status. The “Warrant Service Officer Model” allows trained local officers to execute administrative warrants within detention facilities. The “Task Force Model,” which constitutes the majority of current agreements, grants officers broader authority to question and arrest individuals for immigration violations during routine policing duties under ICE supervision.
The expansion has drawn criticism from civil rights advocates and legal experts. Annie Lai, an immigration law professor at the University of California Irvine, expressed concerns regarding the potential for racial profiling and civil rights violations, noting that local municipalities could face costly litigation. Former INS Commissioner Doris Meissner described the current strategy as “putting 287(g) agreements on steroids,” exceeding the utilization rates of previous administrations under Presidents Bush and Obama.
State-level responses to the federal initiative have varied. In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis has effectively mandated local law enforcement participation. Conversely, Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger issued an executive order terminating 287(g) agreements with state agencies, and Maryland lawmakers are advancing legislation to prevent state participation by July.
Federal-State Jurisdictional Friction
The rapid scaling of 287(g) agreements highlights a deepening divergence in law enforcement strategies across the United States. While the federal executive branch is aggressively utilizing statutory tools to multiply its enforcement capacity via local proxies, specific state administrations are establishing legal firewalls to decouple local policing from federal immigration mandates. This creates a complex jurisdictional landscape where the likelihood of immigration-related detention during routine police encounters varies significantly depending on state and county boundaries, potentially leading to future constitutional challenges regarding the scope of federal deputization powers.
It is important to note that all individuals detained or arrested in connection with these operations are presumed innocent of criminal charges until proven guilty in a court of law.
