As part of its war on immigrants, the Trump administration has rapidly expanded a program that deputizes local law enforcement to enforce federal immigration laws. The 287(g) program allows the Department of Homeland Security to reach agreements with state and local governments, essentially turning local police and jails into Immigration and Customs Enforcement auxiliaries. Since Trump took office in January, federal officials have signed hundreds of new 287(g) agreements with state and local agencies across the country, the largest expansion of the program to date. Although pitched as targeting so-called criminals, in reality the program is used to racially profile entire communities.
The expansion of 287(g) agreements shows that the Trump administration is planning to enlist local police across the United States as part of its racist mass deportation program. In the United States, the federal government sets immigration policy. Typically state and local governments do not have the power to enforce immigration laws, unless the federal government delegates that power to them.
Local police from agencies with 287(g) agreements are empowered to detain and question people about their immigration status, giving them legal cover to harass any group of people they perceive to be “foreign.” The 287(g) program is so notorious that the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination specifically criticized it in 2022 for promoting racial profiling and called for its end.
The recently passed “One Big Beautiful Bill” already allocated hundreds of billions of dollars on the federal level for ICE, border patrol and detention facilities. The expansion of 287(g) agreements means more local resources will be devoted to immigration enforcement instead of education, infrastructure and other social services.
Types of 287(g) agreements
There are three types of 287(g) agreements in place today. The “warrant service officer” model deputizes local law authorities to serve and execute ICE administrative warrants within jails they operate. The “jail enforcement” model deputizes jails to investigate the immigration status of anyone in custody, and potentially begin deportation proceedings against them. Under this model local authorities can issue immigration detainers.
The “task force” model is the most controversial type of agreement. Under this model local police can carry out immigration enforcement as part of their routine patrols in the community. Local authorities can also issue immigration detainers, arrest warrants and search warrants under this model. This model in particular has been criticized for its extreme racism and harm to local communities. Under President Obama, all “task force” model agreements were ended, and no new ones were signed until this year.
The history of 287(g)
The 287(g) program, named after a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act, was created in 1996 under President Clinton. It was part of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, which introduced several draconian changes to immigration law.
The first 287(g) agreement was only signed in 2002, and by 2006 there were seven 287(g) agreements in place across the country. That year, the immigrant community in the United States mobilized in record numbers and defeated the racist Sensenbrenner Bill which would have criminalized millions of undocumented immigrants and their families. In reaction, some conservative controlled cities and counties began signing up for the 287(g) program as a way to attack immigrants. This expansion was contested in some areas, but by 2011 there were 72 of these 287(g) agreements in place across the country.
Under President Obama, jail enforcement agreements continued to be signed and these contributed to his record number of deportations, but under pressure from the immigrant rights movement, the “task force” model was ended. In President Trump’s first term, most expansion of the program came from the development of the “warrant service officer” model of agreement, which was considered less risky and costly than a full “jail enforcement” model agreement. By the end of Trump’s first term more than 150 agreements were in place. President Biden promised to roll back 287(g) agreements, but maintained most existing agreements.
Since January, there has been a historic and rapid expansion of the program. In April, an ICE press release bragged that 444 new agreements were signed in the first 100 days of Trump’s new term. As of July 2025, the ICE website claims that there are 866 total 287(g) agreements in 40 states. This includes 435 agreements to implement the notorious “task force” model across 31 different states.
The southeastern states historically have had the most 287(g) agreements, and participation has grown during the past year. Officials in Florida have embraced 287(g) agreements more than any other state, making it into a testing ground for potential countrywide policies. The state government under Governor DeSantis has even threatened local governments who refuse to sign 287(g) agreements.
While historically these agreements were limited to municipal police, highway patrols and county sheriffs, in recent months agreements have been made with state national guards, fish and wildlife agencies, and even public universities.
Waukegan, Illinois: A case study of resistance
The recent expansion of 287(g) agreement is concerning, but we can look to history to see how this program has been successfully resisted.
Waukegan, Illinois is a small suburban city north of Chicago on the shores of Lake Michigan which saw a large growth in its Latino community in the 1980s and 1990s. Like many areas at this time with growing immigrant communities, the established white political leadership reacted with hostility.
In 1996, the federal government sued Waukegan for housing discrimination over laws that limited the number of Latino family members that could live in a home or apartment. City officials even said the law was meant to stop Latinos from “taking over.” Waukegan police regularly seized the cars of Black and Latino drivers without a license, which was impossible for undocumented immigrants in Illinois to have at the time, and charged hundreds of dollars for vehicles to be returned. Waukegan police to this day frequently kill innocent Black and Latino people and frame others for crimes they did not commit.
It is unsurprising that Waukegan officials at the time saw the 287(g) program as a way to further oppress Latinos and other immigrant communities. After a vote on joining the program was announced, thousands of community members mobilized. Many small businesses put up signs opposing 287(g). On the day of the vote more than 4,000 people marched onto the steps of the city council building to say “No” to letting ICE work hand-in-hand with local police. Labor unions, community groups, social clubs, churches and socialists united in the streets. Waukegan police unsuccessfully tried to intimidate attendees by deploying in riot gear and on horseback.
The proposal to join the program was passed by a 7-2 vote, but the opposition movement it sparked would ultimately win. In 2009, Mayor Richard Hyde, who pushed the 287(g) agreement, lost his reelection campaign and the police chief who supported it resigned. In 2017, the state of Illinois enacted the TRUST Act to limit cooperation between ICE and local law enforcement and by 2019 the state banned local participation in the 287(g) program entirely.
After Trump was elected, Waukegan and Lake County officials were united in saying they would follow Illinois law and not proactively cooperate with ICE. Because of the fightback of its immigrant community, Waukegan had gone from being the frontline of the war against immigrants to being a sanctuary city.
The protections that exist for immigrants today were won by struggle. California, Oregon, Washington, New Jersey and Connecticut also restrict or ban 287(g) agreements. The expansion of 287(g) is a threat to working-class people across the country and will divert even more resources to racist immigration enforcement. This expansion can be resisted and even rolled back by organized struggle of immigrants and their allies.
Feature photo: Immigration activists protest the 287(g) program in Knoxville, Tennessee. Photo credit: NDLON (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
