Washington D.C.: For the next 12 months, the federal government plans to use $1.6 billion to compensate local and state police departments for their willingness to participate in federal immigration enforcement policies, the largest amount yet by the Trump administration.
The program, which goes by 287(g), started in 2025 and is led by the Department of Homeland Security, is a federal program that authorizes immigration powers down to local law enforcement. It essentially “deputizes” local police officers to detain anyone they suspect of living in America illegally.
State, and more specifically local law enforcement, generally have a deeper connection with the community and stand in a good position to detain those they know are in the country illegally.
“Immigration and Customs Enforcement outlined its strategy for spending $100 million in the last fiscal year, $575 million this fiscal year and $475 million in fiscal 2027 for detention and removal operations under these agreements, according to a document publicly released earlier this month,” one media outlet reported.
Markwayne Mullin, who serves as the 9th United States Secretary of Homeland Security and was sworn in March 2026, recently addressed the media regarding the 287(b) program.
“We say to the local law enforcement and the state law enforcement … ‘If you run across these individuals, keep them. We will pay for your time and some of the equipment; just hold them and we will come pick them up,” he said during a recent press conference.
The number of detainments has skyrocketed since January of 2025 when funding was massively increased, despite seeing occasional dips. During January of 2025, 301 arrests were reported, and in January the following year, the number of arrests shot up to more than 10x, at 3,388.
This is due to more departments enrolling in the 287(g) program. The incentives drew many new participants in, too, and are referred to as the Task Force Model.
The Trump Administration announced they were offering “$7,500 for equipment per trained officer, $100,000 for new vehicles per partnership” in addition to paying for salaries and benefits.
FWD.us, an organization that opposed official cooperation between ICE and police departments, reported an increase in enrollment of 1470% since January 2025.
“It’s really important to be thinking about the effects on immigrants, but also the effects on local communities and citizens in the U.S. to all of this new money pouring in with very little oversight,” a representative from the organization said.
The 287(g) program saw a more than quadrupled increase in department enrollees during the first Trump Administration, but the total budget has not increased much despite official requests from ICE.
When the budget saw massive increases in 2025, deportation operations surged and are on pace to continue through 2027.
“The $1.6 billion is not the only funding ICE could use for the revival of the local partnerships. Billions more from this year’s reconciliation bill can be used for the 287(g) program through 2029. ICE’s spend plan only covers the program through fiscal year 2027, and the agency didn’t respond to questions as to whether it would maintain the same level of funding after that,” one source wrote.
However, many departments enrolled in the Task Force Model don’t actively engage in related arrests. In Florida, 109 out of the 247 registered have not made any arrests.
Despite these figures, ICE operations will continue as part of the overall Trump administration agenda.
-------------------------------------------------
Writer and author Eddie Molina has over 25 years of combined LEO and military service. Learn more about his interview articles at www.eddiemolina.com
Comments