Key Takeaways
• Trump’s 2025 Executive Order expanded 287(g), increasing local police involvement in immigration enforcement nationwide.
• Task Force Model was revived, allowing police to enforce immigration laws during patrols, not just in jails.
• Civil rights groups highlight rising concerns about racial profiling and community trust in areas using 287(g).
The 287(g) Program, central to immigration enforcement in the United States 🇺🇸, has drawn national attention for its expansion and the debate that follows it. This program, part of the Immigration and Nationality Act, allows local police and sheriffs to help carry out federal immigration laws, a role that once belonged only to federal authorities.
At its core, the 287(g) Program is about the partnership between the Department of Homeland Security and local law enforcement agencies. It starts with agreements—called Memoranda of Agreement or MOAs—that set the rules for these partnerships. When a local police agency signs an MOA with the Department of Homeland Security, some of its selected officers get extra training from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE. After training, these local officers have new powers: they can ask people about their immigration status, place immigration holds (called detainers), and even start the process of removing someone from the country.
There are three main ways the 287(g) Program works. These are called models, and each one gives different amounts of power to local police:
Jail Enforcement Model
This is the most common version. Here, local officers use their new powers only inside jails. If someone is taken to jail for any reason, these officers check their immigration status. If they find that the person could be in the United States 🇺🇸 without permission, they can place a hold, which keeps this person in jail until ICE can come and take over. Officers can then help start the removal (deportation) process.
Warrant Service Officer Model
This version is more limited. Local police are given the power to serve (or hand over) civil immigration warrants. They don’t do interviews or make decisions about removal—just carry out the serving of paperwork from ICE.
Task Force Model
This is the broadest and most powerful model. It lets deputized officers use their new immigration powers out in the community, not only in jails. They can enforce immigration rules during traffic stops, patrols, and criminal investigations. Because of worries about unfair treatment and overuse, this model was mostly stopped in the past. However, it has made a comeback recently.
The main rule is that all activity under 287(g) must respect federal civil rights laws. Even with federal training and powers, these officers still work for their own city or county. They do not become ICE agents.
The biggest changes to the 287(g) Program have happened since 2025, especially under President Trump. Early that year, an Executive Order (Executive Order 14159) made it clear that the government wanted to use every possible law and agreement—especially 287(g)—to strengthen immigration enforcement inside the United States 🇺🇸, rather than just at the borders.
In response, the Department of Homeland Security made a strong push to sign new agreements. This effort led to a sharp increase in the number of places using the 287(g) Program. Where there used to be only dozens of counties or cities involved, now there are hundreds. This increase did not stop with jails; the Department also revived the Task Force Model, so some local police patrolled their communities with stronger immigration powers than before. In many cases, the expansion happened in states led by Republican governors or where state laws require local police to work with ICE. Jurisdictions that were not interested in participating sometimes had to join the program because the state government made it the law.
Why did the Trump administration want to involve so many local police in federal immigration enforcement? One answer is manpower. As reported by VisaVerge.com, there are only about 6,000 ICE deportation agents in the whole country. This is a small number when you think about how many people in the United States 🇺🇸 are subject to immigration laws. By having so many local officers deputized under 287(g), the Department of Homeland Security turned local police into what they called “force multipliers.” In other words, using local police lets the government cover more ground and enforce the Immigration and Nationality Act more widely.
The expansion wasn’t just in numbers. The types of cases changed as well. Before 2025, the main focus was people who had committed serious crimes. Under President Trump, the net widened to include people arrested for small crimes or even traffic violations. This shift worried many people and groups, since it could mean that someone is drawn into possible deportation because of a small mistake or minor violation.
The 287(g) Program has never been free of controversy, but under these new policies, debate has grown more intense.
Concerns About Civil Rights and Racial Profiling
One of the main worries is that deputized local officers might not always use their new powers fairly. Reports from national immigrant advocate groups have pointed to increases in racial profiling, especially in places with a large Latinx population. Racial profiling means that officers may stop, question, or arrest someone mainly because of their appearance or assumed background, rather than any real evidence of a crime.
When communities believe police can act as immigration agents, people may avoid reporting crime or asking police for help. This is true even for legal immigrants and U.S. citizens living in those communities. Fear spreads that anyone who interacts with the police could end up facing immigration consequences—or that family and friends could be swept up as well.
Impact on Community Trust and Public Safety
The 287(g) Program’s critics argue that it blurs the line between local policing and federal immigration enforcement. This blending can make it much harder for police to do their core job: keeping communities safe. If people in an immigrant community are too afraid to call the police—because they worry about deportation—they might not report serious crimes or come forward as witnesses. This makes it easier for dangerous people to commit crimes and harder for the police to solve cases. According to several advocacy organizations, this trend weakens public safety and undermines community trust.
Financial and Legal Costs for Local Agencies
Running a 287(g) program is not cheap. While ICE may pay for some training and equipment, local agencies often pay the costs of holding people longer in jails, handling legal challenges, and using staff time for federal law enforcement work. Some cities and counties have ended their 287(g) agreements for these reasons. Critics also argue that these agreements pull money and officers away from local policing tasks that have nothing to do with immigration.
There have also been lawsuits and legal challenges related to the program. In some cases, localities have been held responsible for civil rights violations or false imprisonment if they hold someone too long on an immigration detainer. Because immigration law is complex, and local officers might not have the same experience as ICE agents, mistakes can and do happen.
Policy Disagreements and Mandated Participation
Since the 287(g) Program is not required under federal law, participation has always varied by local preference. Some communities welcome the program, while others strongly oppose it. However, in some states—such as Florida—state governments have passed laws to require participation from all their counties. This has created tension, since local city councils or police chiefs might not agree with the policy but are forced by state law to take part. In some areas, residents have held protests and spoken out at public meetings to oppose new or continuing agreements with ICE.
A Direct ‘Pipeline’ From Police Encounter to Deportation
In practice, the 287(g) Program connects everyday police interactions—such as traffic stops or calls for help—directly to the risk of deportation. Immigration advocates say this is like creating a “pipeline” that starts with contact by local police and can end with detention and removal from the United States 🇺🇸. Sometimes this happens even if the person was not accused of a serious crime or had never been in trouble before.
A Snapshot: Before and After Trump’s Expansion
To understand the changes better, here’s a simple summary of how the 287(g) Program looked before and after the recent expansion:
| Feature | Before Trump Expansion | After (2025+) |
|---|---|---|
| Number/types participating | Dozens of jail-based programs | Hundreds, including Task Force |
| Where allowed | Mostly inside local jails | Expanded to patrols and investigations |
| Main focus | Serious crimes | Any contact with police, including minor offenses |
| Local vs state control | Local governments could opt out | Some states require all counties to join |
| Civil rights protections | Improvements after lawsuits and reviews | Raised concerns about unfair treatment |
Looking at the Broader Impact
Supporters of the 287(g) Program say it is needed for public safety and enforcing the law. They argue that making use of local police helps federal agencies protect communities and remove dangerous people. They also claim it helps reduce illegal immigration and upholds respect for the rules set by the Immigration and Nationality Act.
However, critics warn that the drawbacks are hard to ignore. They point to communities in the United States 🇺🇸 where fear of deportation is so strong that people stop seeking police help, even in life-threatening situations. They cite cases where people caught up in small violations ended up facing life-changing consequences, including being separated from their families. Fiscal costs also matter: cities and counties spend taxpayer money on federal immigration work that is not their primary responsibility.
Several watchdog and legal groups stress that, while some safeguards exist—such as civil rights training and review—problems like racial profiling or wrongful detention still occur. This is especially true in places that revived the Task Force Model, where police use federal immigration powers outside jails.
What the Future May Hold
The 287(g) Program, as it looks today, remains one of the most debated parts of interior immigration enforcement. Its future depends on orders from the Department of Homeland Security, decisions by Congress, state and local laws, and—most importantly—the public’s response.
Some localities may seek to end or scale back their participation, while others may add new agreements if state law allows or requires it. Lawsuits and public pressure will likely continue, especially if new reports of rights violations or high costs keep coming to light. The program’s supporters, on the other hand, may keep pushing for more local involvement, especially if they feel that federal authorities do not have enough staff to keep up with immigration enforcement demands.
One way to learn more about how the 287(g) Program works is by visiting official government sources. The main page about the program on the Department of Homeland Security’s ICE website explains how the agreements are made, what training officers receive, and offers some data on where it is being used.
Final Thoughts
The 287(g) Program, made possible by the Immigration and Nationality Act, has always been about giving local police a role in federal immigration enforcement. Under President Trump, it has grown larger and more powerful than ever before, changing police routines and daily life for many communities across the United States 🇺🇸. Supporters and critics remain divided, but one thing is clear: this is a policy that touches not just immigration law, but also community trust, civil rights, and the meaning of public safety itself.
For more ongoing analysis and updates on immigration policies like the 287(g) Program, readers can rely on trusted resources such as VisaVerge.com, which continues to track these changes and their impact across the United States 🇺🇸.
Learn Today
287(g) Program → A federal initiative letting local police enforce certain immigration laws after signing agreements and receiving ICE training.
Memoranda of Agreement (MOA) → Official contracts outlining rules between local law enforcement agencies and the Department of Homeland Security for immigration duties.
Task Force Model → A 287(g) program version granting local police authority to enforce immigration laws during community patrols and investigations.
Immigration Detainer → A request from ICE to hold an individual in local jail until federal immigration authorities can assume custody.
Racial Profiling → Law enforcement targeting individuals for investigation or arrest based on race, ethnicity, or national origin rather than specific evidence.
This Article in a Nutshell
The 287(g) Program empowers local police to enforce federal immigration law, especially after Trump’s 2025 expansion. Now, hundreds of jurisdictions participate nationwide. The program’s growth triggered fierce debate over civil rights, racial profiling, local costs, and public safety, profoundly reshaping trust between immigrant communities and law enforcement in the United States.
— By VisaVerge.com
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