29,000 Local Officers Now Deputized by ICE for Immigration Enforcement
New analysis shows state and local police involvement in federal immigration arrests has doubled in eight months, driven by financial incentives and new enforcement models.
By Giulia Donovan ·
FWD.us released a report on Tuesday showing that more than 29,000 state and local law enforcement officers were deputized by Immigration and Customs Enforcement between January 2025 and October 2026. This figure represents a doubling of the workforce engaged in the program over the preceding eight months. The number of deputized officers now far exceeds the 11,600 deportation officers directly employed by ICE.
The data comes from an analysis of the 287(g) program, which allows federal authorities to grant immigration enforcement powers to state and local police. FWD.us compiled the figures using public records and data requested by the Deportation Data Project, a research group based at UC Berkeley and UCLA. The program dates back to the 1990s but saw minimal use until the current administration expanded its reach.
Felicity Rose, vice president of research and policy at FWD.us, described these local officers as a key lever for the administration's shift in strategy. Rose noted that the government is moving away from large, visible urban operations like those in Chicago and Minneapolis. Instead, the administration is relying on routine highway stops and local interactions to identify undocumented immigrants.
The most aggressive form of this partnership is the Task Force Model. Under this arrangement, local agencies gain the authority to make immigration arrests. In exchange for maintaining active participation in these enforcement activities, local departments receive federal funds for new vehicles, equipment, and other resources. The Department of Homeland Security has characterized 287(g) as a vital tool for reducing crime and illegal immigration.
Geographic disparities are evident in the arrest data. Law enforcement agencies in Florida and Texas accounted for approximately half of the 47,000 immigration arrests made through 287(g) nationwide between January 2025 and August 2026. Governors in both states have mandated that local police join the program. However, states not typically associated with aggressive enforcement have also seen sharp increases in arrest rates.
In Wyoming, deputized officers made up 77% of all immigration arrests in the state in April 2026. They have accounted for more than 60% of arrests every month since November 2025. New Hampshire saw the program responsible for 60% of its immigration arrests in June 2026. In Oklahoma, close to 50% of immigration arrests in June were made by state or local police.
Oklahoma’s Highway Patrol signed all of its troopers into 287(g), granting them the power to stop drivers and make immigration arrests on state highways. Gabriela Ramirez-Perez, an immigration and economic security policy analyst at the Oklahoma Policy Institute, said this has created a chilling effect on immigrant communities. People are altering their daily routines, including avoiding driving, to reduce the risk of encountering a patrol officer.
Financial incentives appear to be driving the rapid expansion of these partnerships. The Department of Justice offered $3 billion in funding this summer to state and local agencies that join the program. Florida has already allocated hundreds of millions of additional dollars to its law enforcement agencies for participation. Rose said the promise of money is a primary force behind the surge and suggests more partnerships will form.
