Florida and Texas Police Produce Half of 287(g) Immigration Arrests, Report Finds

Law enforcement agencies in Florida and Texas together accounted for about half of the more than 47,000 immigration arrests made nationally through the 287(g) program between January 2025 and August 2026, according to a report from the immigration reform advocacy group FWD.us.

The report said more than 29,000 state and local officers were deputized by Immigration and Customs Enforcement during that period, a figure that has doubled over the last eight months. The number far exceeds the 11,600 deportation officers directly employed by ICE. FWD.us drew on ICE public records and information requested by the Deportation Data Project, which is based at UC Berkeley and UCLA.

The 287(g) program was created in the 1990s under the Clinton administration. Its use expanded after President Trump returned to office. Felicity Rose, vice president of research and policy at FWD.us, said the analysis shows the scale of these partnerships in the administration's immigration enforcement work. "These state and local officers are a key lever in the administration's quieter approach to enforcement. They're trading what used to be splashy urban surges, which we saw in Chicago and Minneapolis, for just routine highway stops now under the 287(g) program," Rose said in an interview ahead of the report's release.

The program's most common form, the Task Force Model, allows police and sheriff's departments to make immigration arrests. In return, local agencies that remain in active participation in 287(g) enforcement activity under agreements signed with ICE receive money for cars, equipment and other enforcement resources. The Department of Homeland Security has said the program is a critical tool to cut down on crime and illegal immigration.

In some states, deputized officers carried out the majority of immigration arrests. In Wyoming, officers certified under 287(g) made 77% of the state's total immigration arrests in April 2026 and more than 60% each month since November 2025. New Hampshire recorded 60% through the program in June 2026, and Oklahoma reached close to 50% that month. Oklahoma's Highway Patrol enrolled all of its troopers in 287(g), giving them authority to stop drivers and potentially make immigration arrests on state highways.

Gabriela Ramirez-Perez, immigration and economic security policy analyst with the Oklahoma Policy Institute, said the effect on immigrant communities there has been visible. "Even though Oklahoma may not be in the headlines, it's definitely a hotspot for immigration enforcement," Ramirez-Perez said. "We can say that it's definitely resulting in a lot of fear in immigrant communities. People are changing their day to day routines to try to avoid getting on the highway, to try to avoid driving as much as possible."

The Justice Department earlier this summer offered $3 billion in funding for state and local agencies that join the program, with money available for staffing and new equipment in coming years. Florida has already given hundreds of millions of dollars to law enforcement agencies in the state in exchange for their participation. Rose said the promise of money appears to be driving the rise in 287(g) participation.

Governors in Florida and Texas have mandated that local police sign 287(g) agreements. FWD.us used ICE public records and data requested by the Deportation Data Project, based at UC Berkeley and UCLA, to produce the report.