ICE 287(g) Program: Models, Detainers, and Officer Authority

The ICE 287(g) program is a formal partnership that lets state and local law enforcement officers perform specific federal immigration functions after signing an agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and completing required training. As of March 2026, ICE has 1,579 active agreements with agencies across 39 states and two U.S. territories, a sharp expansion driven by a January 2025 executive order directing ICE to authorize local participation “to the maximum extent permitted by law.”¹ What a participating officer can actually do to you depends on which of four operational models their agency joined.

Where the Authority Comes From

The program is named for Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, added by a 1996 federal law and codified at 8 U.S.C. § 1357(g). The statute authorizes the federal government to enter written agreements with any state or political subdivision so qualified local officers can investigate, apprehend, or detain noncitizens.² The Homeland Security Act of 2002 moved the authority from the Attorney General to the Secretary of Homeland Security, and ICE runs the program.

Nothing happens without a signed Memorandum of Agreement between ICE and the local agency. That document spells out which powers are delegated, how long the arrangement lasts, and which ICE official supervises the local officers. It also requires a written certification that participating officers have completed adequate training in federal immigration law. Without the MOA, a local officer has no legal standing to exercise federal immigration authority under the statute.

A local sheriff or police chief starts the process by applying to ICE, which evaluates the agency’s resources. Once both sides sign, the agreement runs until either party terminates it. A local agency can pull out by giving written notice to the ICE field office. ICE must give 90 days’ written notice to terminate, publish that notice on its website, and include the reasons for termination along with data on the number of people identified under the agreement.³

State law can also close the door. The statute requires that delegated functions be carried out “to the extent consistent with State and local law,” and several states have passed laws prohibiting local agencies from entering 287(g) agreements or restricting cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. A willing sheriff in one of those states may be legally barred from participating.

The Four Operational Models

The model an agency joins determines where its officers can act and what they can do. Across the 1,579 current agreements, ICE reports 942 under the Task Force Model, 479 under the Warrant Service Officer program, and 158 under the Jail Enforcement Model.¹

Jail Enforcement Model

Officers work entirely inside correctional facilities. They screen people who have already been arrested and booked on local criminal charges, checking biographical information against federal immigration databases to identify noncitizens who may be removable before release. Authority begins and ends at the jail. There is no street-level enforcement under this model.

Task Force Model

This is the most expansive version. It was part of the original program, discontinued in 2012 after concerns about racial profiling and civil rights violations, and revived in January 2025 through Executive Order 14159. It quickly became the most widely adopted model. Officers can investigate immigration status during routine police activities like traffic stops and patrol encounters, access federal databases in the field, and make civil immigration arrests without a concurrent criminal charge.

Warrant Service Officer Program

The WSO model has the narrowest scope. Officers are trained to serve ICE administrative arrest warrants on people already in local custody, allowing a smooth custody transfer from the local jail to ICE without a federal agent traveling to every facility.⁴ WSO officers do not conduct broader immigration screening or investigation.

Tribal Task Force Model

A fourth model mirrors the standard Task Force Model but is designed for tribal law enforcement agencies operating under the authority of 25 U.S.C. § 2804.

What a Designated Officer Can Do

Under any model, officers gain access to capabilities otherwise reserved for federal immigration agents. They can conduct formal interviews about citizenship, nationality, and immigration status, asking how and when a person entered the country, whether they hold a valid visa, and whether they have any prior removal orders. They can query federal databases that track immigration and criminal history.

Designated officers can also prepare a Notice to Appear, the charging document that formally begins removal proceedings in immigration court. These actions happen under ICE supervision, and an ICE supervisor makes the call on next steps in each case.⁵

Immigration Detainers and the 48-Hour Hold

When a 287(g) officer identifies someone in local custody as potentially removable, they can issue an immigration detainer asking the jail to hold the person for up to 48 additional hours beyond their scheduled release, excluding weekends and holidays.⁶ That window gives ICE time to take custody.

A detainer is a request, not a judicial warrant, and that distinction has driven significant litigation. Multiple federal courts have ruled that holding someone past their release date on a detainer alone constitutes a new arrest under the Fourth Amendment, requiring independent probable cause. Some jurisdictions have limited or refused cooperation with detainer requests for that reason, and local agencies that comply remain potentially liable when a hold lacks sufficient legal basis.

Training Varies Sharply by Model

Training is where the gap between models becomes hard to miss.

Jail Enforcement Model officers complete a four-week Immigration Authority Delegation Program at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Charleston, South Carolina, plus a one-week refresher. The curriculum covers immigration law, civil rights, use of force, cross-cultural communication, and database navigation.
Task Force Model officers, despite having the broadest authority, complete only a 40-hour online training course under the revived version. Before the model’s 2012 discontinuation, TFM required the same four-week in-person program as JEM.
Warrant Service Officers receive an eight-hour training on legal authorities and enforcement protocols, facilitated by an ICE field office.

All candidates must pass a background investigation before entering any training program, and ICE covers training costs for all models.⁵

Who Pays

The statute says delegated functions are performed “at the expense of the State or political subdivision.”² ICE covers training and federal program management. Officer salaries, overtime, equipment, and the cost of holding people on immigration detainers past their local release date come out of the local budget. For smaller sheriff’s offices, those detention and staffing costs add up, particularly during the 48-hour extra hold while ICE arranges pickup.

Oversight and Officer Liability

Local officers acting under an agreement remain subject to federal direction and supervision, reporting to an ICE field office director. A Government Accountability Office review found that oversight has not been uniform across models. ICE conducted regular inspections for the Jail Enforcement Model but initially had no oversight mechanism for the Warrant Service Officer program: no clear policies on field supervisors’ responsibilities and no plan for compliance inspections. ICE has since issued guidance requiring biennial inspections of WSO programs and annual summaries of each partner’s activity.⁷

The statute gives 287(g) officers an unusual legal status. They are not federal employees for most purposes, but they are covered by federal workers’ compensation for on-the-job injuries and by the Federal Tort Claims Act for liability arising from their actions. When acting under the agreement, they are considered to be acting under color of federal authority for purposes of liability and immunity. That is not a blanket shield. Courts have found that local agencies remain liable under the Fourth Amendment for detaining people without adequate legal basis even when they were following an ICE request, and several agencies have paid settlements over wrongful detention.

Your Rights and How to File a Complaint

Answering questions about your immigration history during a 287(g) screening is voluntary. You are not required to tell an officer where you were born or how you entered the country. You retain the right to remain silent and the right to speak with an attorney, though those rights are not always clearly communicated during jail-based interviews. Asking to speak with a lawyer before answering is the single most important step you can take.

If you believe a 287(g) officer has violated your civil rights, you can file a complaint with the DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties in three ways:

Submit through the online portal on the DHS website and receive a confirmation number.
Download and complete the fillable PDF complaint form, then send it by email, fax, or mail.
Send a written description of the complaint by email, fax, phone, or postal mail without using the portal or form.

Complaints are reviewed by CRCL staff, and the office has authority to investigate patterns of abuse within 287(g) programs.⁸

1
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Delegation of Immigration Authority Section 287(g) Immigration and Nationality Act
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1357 – Powers of Immigration Officers and Employees
3
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Memorandum of Agreement 287(g) Task Force Model
4
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Memorandum of Agreement Warrant Service Officer Program
5
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Partner With ICE Through the 287(g) Program
6
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. DHS Form I-247 – Immigration Detainer – Notice of Action
7
U.S. Government Accountability Office. Immigration Enforcement – ICE Can Further Enhance Its Planning and Oversight of State and Local Agreements
8
Homeland Security. File a Civil Rights Complaint