One of Immigration and Custom Enforcement’s most powerful tools is the 287(g) program. This program taps state and local law enforcement agencies to assist ICE in identifying people for arrest and potential deportation.
According to ICE there are three models participating agencies can choose from:
- Jail-Enforcement Model: Local law enforcement can “identify and process” undocumented individuals who are arrested.
- Task Force Model: “serves as a force multiplier for law enforcement agencies to enforce limited immigration authority with ICE oversight during their routine police duties.”
- Warrant Service Officer: State and local law officers can be authorized to serve and execute administrative warrants on undocumented individuals in their jail.
The 287(g) program emboldens state and local law enforcement officers to racially profile – stopping and arresting people on the pretext of traffic violations or other minor offenses – for the actual purpose of putting them in a pipeline to deportation and separation from their families.
As of July 22, 2025, Minnesota had seven counties with 287(g) agreements: Cass, Crow Wing, Freeborn, Itasca and Jackson, Kandiyohi, and Mille Lacs counties.