29,000 Local Officers Deputized by ICE Under 287(g) Program

State and local law enforcement officers have doubled their participation in federal immigration enforcement over the past eight months. A new report from the advocacy group FWD.us states that more than 29,000 officers were deputized by Immigration and Customs Enforcement between January 2025 and October 2026. This figure far exceeds the 11,600 deportation officers directly employed by the federal agency.

The expansion relies on the 287(g) program, established during the Clinton administration in the 1990s. The program was largely dormant until the current administration activated it. Felicity Rose, vice president of research and policy at FWD.us, described the shift to NPR as a move away from high-profile urban raids. She noted that the administration is now using local officers for routine highway stops instead of the large-scale surges seen in cities like Chicago and Minneapolis.

Under the Task Force Model, the most aggressive form of these partnerships, local agencies gain the power to make immigration arrests. In exchange for active participation, these agencies receive federal funds for new vehicles, equipment, and other enforcement resources. The Department of Homeland Security has characterized 287(g) as a critical tool for reducing crime and illegal immigration.

The data reveals a geographic concentration in enforcement. Law enforcement agencies in Florida and Texas accounted for roughly half of the 47,000 immigration arrests made nationally between January 2025 and August 2026. Governors in both states mandated that local police sign these agreements. However, the report also identified spikes in states not traditionally known for aggressive enforcement, including Wyoming, New Hampshire, and Oklahoma.

In Wyoming, deputized officers made up 77% of all immigration arrests in April 2026. They have constituted more than 60% of arrests every month since November 2025. New Hampshire saw a similar trend in June 2026, with the program responsible for 60% of arrests. Oklahoma’s Highway Patrol signed all its troopers onto the program, granting them the authority to stop drivers and potentially make immigration arrests on state highways.

Gabriela Ramirez-Perez, an immigration and economic security policy analyst at the Oklahoma Policy Institute, said the change has altered daily habits for many residents. She stated that people in the state are changing their routines to avoid driving on highways, creating a climate of fear within immigrant communities despite the state’s lower national profile.

Financial incentives appear to be the primary driver of this expansion. The Justice Department offered $3 billion in funding to state and local agencies joining the program earlier this summer. Florida has already distributed hundreds of millions of additional dollars to its law enforcement partners. Rose believes this financial promise will continue to push more agencies to sign on.