Several South Florida local governments have submitted applications to a program that would formalize ties between local and regional law enforcement agencies and the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE), SA国际传谋 has learned.
Miami-Dade County previously applied to in 2022, and the Palm Beach Sheriff鈥檚 Office applied to join the program within 鈥渢he last couple of days,鈥� the office said.
ICE under the Biden Administration did not approve or sign any new 287(g) agreements with local law enforcement agencies during his entire tenure, to the ICE database. Regardless of the inaction, agencies still submitted applications.
On Dec. 18, ICE began to list agencies that have filed applications that have not been approved, showing a backlog. A required Florida agencies that operate county jails to apply for the 287(g) program.
The 287(g) program allows local police to assist federal officers in serving and executing warrants on non-citizens. Local officers can also help identify and process immigrants for deportation once they are booked in a local jail system. To participate in the program, local officers must be trained by ICE and the officers must pass a written exam.
ICE did not respond to questions about whether it plans to quickly clear that backlog in the early days of the Trump Administration.
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The fact that local agencies have formed a backlog of applications to the program comes to light in the first few days of the Trump Administration, as officials have been warning of raids on immigrant communities and warning that local officials that do not cooperate with federal immigration authorities .
Nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants reside in the U.S., according to the . Florida, with 590,000, has the third highest number of any state in the country.
At least 27 agencies across the nation are as having submitted applications to the program, including agencies in Texas, Georgia, Montana, Oklahoma and Louisiana. Nearly half of the pending applications are from Florida law enforcement agencies.
Other Florida agencies that have applied to be trained by ICE and formalize relations between local governments and federal immigration enforcement include the Hillsborough County Sheriff鈥檚 Office, the Lee County Sheriff鈥檚 Office, the Orange County Sheriff鈥檚 Office and the St. Lucie County Sheriff鈥檚 Office, some of the largest law enforcement agencies in the state, according to ICE.
鈥淲e put our application in over a year ago and it鈥檚 still pending, I looked at it yesterday,鈥� Colonel James Roberts of the Hardee County Sheriff鈥檚 Office told SA国际传谋 about that agency鈥檚 application.
Captain Lyn Williams of the Union County Sheriff鈥檚 Office said his office applied for the program after they were urged to do so by the Florida Sheriff鈥檚 Association 鈥渁 year or a year and a half ago,鈥� but they never heard back from the Biden Administration.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 care if it鈥檚 approved or not approved, because we don鈥檛 have room for 鈥榚m,鈥� said Williams, referring to ICE detainees. 鈥淚f we arrest someone and hold 鈥榚m til鈥� ICE shows up, that's a different story, as far as having extra room. We鈥檒l do that.鈥�
Union County has a population of about 17,000 people and the jail only has space for 32 people, said Williams.
鈥淲hat we鈥檙e gonna see is the further fusion of local policing 鈥� and state policing, but mostly local policing for the most part 鈥� and federal immigration enforcement,鈥� Thomas Kennedy of the advocacy group Florida Immigrant Coalition told SA国际传谋. 鈥淚t erodes the trust between local communities and police departments.鈥�
Requiring at least 10% of local law enforcement agency staff be trained by ICE to enforce immigration laws on the street level is on the wishlist of Gov. Ron DeSantis prior to a special legislative session that will convene on Monday, Feb. 27.
READ MORE: Florida's role in cracking down on people here without legal status
The requirement would only affect agencies with more than 25 sworn officers, according to draft bill language obtained by SA国际传谋.
Despite the 2022 mandate to apply for the program, some agencies did not put in the applications until recently.
The Palm Beach Sheriff鈥檚 Office entered into a lesser agreement called a 鈥淏asic Ordering Agreement鈥� with ICE after a 2019 state law mandated it, but it never sent in an application to the 287(g) program, Therese Barbera, the public information officer for the office, told SA国际传谋.
鈥淚t was brought to our attention within the last couple of days that the BOA was not the same application so we applied immediately,鈥� she wrote in an email. She would not clarify who informed the office that it had not yet applied to the 287(g) program, nor did she clarify exactly when the application was sent in.
In South Florida, both Broward and Monroe counties already participate in the 287(g) program, according to ICE.
Repeated requests for comment from ICE about why the backlog list of applicants was recently published have not been returned. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which oversees the 287(g) agreements at the state level, did also not respond.
Kennedy, with the Florida Immigrant Coalition, said that Florida is beginning to feel like 鈥淕roundhog Day,鈥� because nearly every year the state government is mandating more cooperation between local governments, employers and federal agencies for immigration enforcement.
In 2023 the state passed a law requiring hospitals to share data on the legal status of hospital patients, and requiring many employers to use the E-Verify database when making new hires.
鈥淲e know for example that that measure has had so some of it is grandstanding to please the base,鈥� said Kennedy. 鈥淏ut now is where the rubber might actually start to hit the road and we might see more immigration enforcement really be put into practice.鈥�
The administration of Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava sent in an application to join the 287(g) program鈥檚 in September of 2022, citing the 2022 state law. The administration runs the county jails in Miami-Dade, and continues to run the jails even after the county police department morphed into the Miami-Dade Sheriff鈥檚 Office earlier this month.
鈥淭he [warrant] program will allow us to enter into a Memorandum of Agreement, which will enable understanding and coordination between our agencies in transferring subjects in County detention facilities to ICE custody,鈥� JD Patterson, then-interim director of the Miami-Dade Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, wrote in a letter to ICE. 鈥淚 look forward to your speedy endorsement of this request in hopes of moving forward with the program for the benefit of both agencies.鈥�
Over two years later, the agreement has yet to be approved, although the county continued working with ICE.
Since 2018, over 2,000 inmates of Miami-Dade jails have been held for immigration authorities in Miami-Dade jails, jail booking records show. That includes people initially arrested for everything from driving with a suspended license (39 cases) to murder (8 cases).
So far in 2025, at least 40 inmates have been held for immigration authorities in Miami-Dade jails, records show.
It is unclear if ICE has picked up all the non-citizens who have been held for the agency.
Miami-Dade County used to refuse to hold immigrants for the federal government, citing the fact that it was not reimbursed for the cost of doing so, costing local taxpayers millions of dollars. The decision not to hold immigrants for ICE took place under the administration of former county Mayor Carlos Gimenez now a Republican Congressman and strong supporter of President Donald Trump. The county鈥檚 posture was quickly reversed when President Donald Trump first came into office in 2017, as Trump threatened to withhold funding for local governments that refused to comply.
鈥淚 felt there would be great retribution鈥� from the Trump Administration, former county commissioner Sally Heyman told SA国际传谋 in 2018, in explaining her decision to allow the county to hold immigrants in detention for ICE. She called it a 鈥渉oly s鈥攖 moment.鈥�
