WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security announced a new initiative to fully cover the salaries and benefits of local law enforcement officers who assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement in enforcing immigration laws.
The funding, set to begin Oct. 1, comes through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and will expand local participation in immigration enforcement under Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, according DHS. That provision allows DHS to delegate certain immigration enforcement powers to trained local police officers.
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Under the new program, ICE will reimburse participating agencies for the full annual salary, benefits and up to 25% overtime of each eligible trained officer. Agencies will also receive quarterly monetary awards based on how effectively they assist ICE in locating undocumented immigrants.
Performance-based incentives include:
- Agencies that locate 90%–100% of ICE-identified undocumented immigrants: $1,000 per trained officer
- 80%–89% compliance: $750 per officer
- 70%–79% compliance: $500 per officer
DHS said the program is designed to strengthen local-federal cooperation as ICE works to meet President Trump’s deportation goals. The initiative represents a sharp expansion of 287(g) partnerships, which have grown 609% under Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem — from 135 agreements to 958 nationwide.
As of Sept. 2, officers from 40 states are participating in the program, with 8,501 trained task force officers and more than 2,000 additional officers currently in training, according to DHS.
Participating local agencies will also receive federal tools and training for officers to enforce immigration laws during regular police duties.
Should immigration enforcement remain primarily a federal responsibility, or is there a place for local agencies to play a larger role?
Police1 readers respond:
- Yes, this is not a local issue. It will only erode the public’s confidence in their police department.
- As a retired law enforcement officer, I absolutely believe that local agencies can play a larger role in assisting federal agencies, especially ICE.
- There is absolutely a place for local agencies. The problem directly affects the states, counties, and municipalities. We should all be working together to protect our national borders.
- As a retired federal officer from multiple agencies, including a former immigration officer, the federal government needs help at this time to successfully remove illegal aliens and criminals who entered into our country illegally under the Biden administration. Joe permitted millions of undocumented individuals to enter the United States without being vetted. Currently, as you can see via national news, we have encountered violent crime at a staggering rate with international criminals such as MS-13, Tren De Aragua and other unknown terrorists. Furthermore, ultimately, the U.S. citizen/taxpayer is paying for the illegals to be in our country which inevitably will destroy our economy and deplete our resources and eventually leave us with nothing. This is exactly what the American public wants, and the help of local law enforcement is essential to this mission.
