Agreements between local law enforcement agencies and Immigration and Customs Enforcement have surged 950% in President Donald Trump’s first year in office, according to a new report by the advocacy organization FWD.US.
Under the Biden administration, there were 135 such agreements. Now, there are 1,168 as of Jan. 26, according to the report.
The Trump administration has openly called on local police and sheriff’s departments to participate in its recently revived “task force” program that deputizes officers, giving them the authority to stop and arrest suspected illegal immigrants, according to NBC News.
And local police officers have been jumping at the opportunity to train to assist in Trump’s mass deportation effort.
The Obama administration ended the program in 2012 after officers in Maricopa County, Arizona, and Alamance County, North Carolina, were accused of racial profiling while participating in the model.
(Photo by Joel Angel Juarez/Getty Images)
Trump restarted the program after reentering the White House for his second term and receiving a flood of cash from his “Big Beautiful Bill.”
With that funding, ICE is offering local law enforcement agencies $7,500 for equipment per trained officer; $100,000 for new vehicles and overtime pay of up to 25% of an officer’s salary, according to NBC. As a result, participating police departments could cash in to the tune of $1.4 billion and $2 billion this year.
“This amount would dwarf all other federal funding for local law enforcement,” the FWD.US report found.
Police agencies in 39 states have entered into agreements with ICE thus far, according to FWD.US, which regularly advocates against Trump’s deportation campaign and ICE’s “brutality and violence.”
Florida has 342 participating agencies, the most of any state. Texas is a close second with 296 agreements, followed by Tennessee with 63, Pennsylvania with 58, and Alabama with 53, according to the report.
“The Program enhances the safety and security of our nation’s communities by allowing ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) to partner with state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies to identify and remove criminal aliens who are amenable to removal from the United States. ICE recognizes the importance of its relationships with law enforcement partners—including state, local, and tribal agencies—to carry out its critical mission,” ICE states on its website.
“Through the delegation of specified immigration officer duties, the program allows ICE to enhance collaboration with state, local, and tribal law enforcement partners to protect the homeland through the arrest and removal of aliens who undermine the safety of our nation’s communities and the integrity of U.S. immigration laws.”
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