287(g) Program: 29,000 Local Officers Deputized for ICE

The 287(g) program, which lets ICE deputize state and local police to enforce federal immigration law, now counts more than 29,000 deputized officers, up from roughly half that number in February, according to an analysis by FWD.us, an immigration reform advocacy group, that NPR reported on Oct. 27. That is more than twice the 11,600 deportation officers ICE employs directly, by the analysis’s count, and in some states the officer most likely to make an immigration arrest is now a sheriff’s deputy or a highway trooper.

The figures matter now because the money behind the program keeps growing. The Justice Department offered $3 billion this summer to state and local police that cooperate with ICE, NPR reported in July, and DHS is paying participating agencies directly: on Oct. 26, Galveston County, Texas, approved about $2.4 million in DHS stipends for its sheriff’s office and a constable’s office, The Galveston County Daily News reported.

Officers: more than 29,000 deputized from January 2025 to October 2026, according to FWD.us. Its February brief had put the count at 13,800 to 15,800.
Arrests: more than 47,000 immigration arrests made through 287(g) from January 2025 to August 2026, about half of them in Florida and Texas.
Local share: deputized officers made 77% of Wyoming’s immigration arrests in April 2026 and 60% of New Hampshire’s in June. In Oklahoma, close to half of June’s arrests were made by state or local police.
Agreements: 135 in January 2025 and 649 by June 6, 2025, according to ICE figures reported by ProPublica. In fiscal 2019, ICE listed 139 agreements in 24 states.

How the 287(g) program moved from the jail to the roadside

Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, added in 1996, lets ICE sign written agreements giving trained local officers limited immigration powers under ICE supervision. The jail enforcement and warrant service officer models reach only people already in custody on other charges. The task force model lets officers question and arrest people during ordinary patrol work. The Obama administration dropped it in 2012; the current administration revived it.

The task force model is what drives the state numbers. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol enrolled all of its troopers, NPR reported, so a stop on a state highway can end in an immigration arrest. Felicity Rose of FWD.us described routine highway stops as replacing the large urban surges, such as those that drew court challenges in Los Angeles, in a less visible enforcement strategy. DHS calls 287(g) a critical tool for reducing crime and illegal immigration.

The practical effect is that the screening point has moved from jail booking to the traffic stop, where the starting point can be a broken taillight rather than a criminal charge. What the 47,000 arrests do not show is how many of those arrested had criminal records, the question most likely to drive the next round of debate. ICE did not provide arrest totals tied to local partners when ProPublica asked in 2025, and the new analysis relies partly on records obtained by the Deportation Data Project at UC Berkeley and UCLA.

Deputized officers’ immigration powers reach people believed to be removable, so green card holders and visa holders in valid status are not targets in principle. The stop is where status gets checked, though, and federal law already requires lawful permanent residents and other registered noncitizens 18 and older to carry proof of registration. People with pending applications but no current status, such as many asylum applicants, are the most exposed.

States pull in opposite directions

Florida and Texas, whose governors have required local police to sign agreements, according to NPR, account for about half the arrests. Maryland went the other way: Gov. Wes Moore signed SB 245/HB 444 on Feb. 17, 2026, barring state and local agencies from 287(g) agreements and ending existing ones immediately. Virginia’s attempt to put conditions on its localities’ agreements is before the Fourth Circuit, where the question is whether a state can undo deals its own sheriffs signed with Washington.

FWD.us’s February brief projected about 29,000 deputized officers by 2027 if sign-ups held their pace. Its October figure reached that level ahead of schedule, and Rose expects financial incentives to bring in more agencies. With grants and stipends now in county budgets, the likelier near-term check on growth is state law and the courts, and the Fourth Circuit’s Virginia ruling will be the first appellate signal on how far a state can go.

Local partners are now a sizable part of the machinery behind deportations under the current administration, and they put local police inside the debate reflected in falling public views of ICE.

This article is for general information and is not legal advice.

Sources

Vasanth Vaidyanathan, Esq.

Administrator

Vasanth Vaidyanathan is an immigration attorney with over 20 years of experience focused exclusively on U.S. immigration and nationality law. He holds a LL.M. from California Western School of Law, San Deigo and advises individuals and businesses on employment and family-based immigration matters, including H-1B, PERM, EB categories, and adjustment of status. He has also been a featured speaker at immigration seminars across the U.S. To reach Vasanth visit: https://www.vnathan.com/

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