287(g) Agreements in North Carolina

Updated daily.

The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 added Section 287(g) to the Immigration and Nationality Act. A 287(g) agreement gives local police the power to enforce federal immigration law — something they normally cannot do. These agreements turn local officers into Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, fueling deportations, racial profiling, and fear in immigrant communities.

Local law enforcement resources are better spent investing in programs that actually keep our communities safe, not fueling the Trump administration’s plans to deport immigrants who contribute to our communities and our economy.

A 287(g) agreement is entirely voluntary. Local law enforcement has no obligation to participate in the program or enforce immigration law. By signing an agreement, a law enforcement agency is effectively declaring its support for a cruel federal immigration enforcement regime.

The 287(g) program allows local municipalities, counties, and state law enforcement agencies to sign an agreement with ICE. The type of agreement specifies what immigration enforcement powers are delegated to the local agency.

There are three types of 287(g) agreements: the Warrant Service Officer, the Jail Enforcement Model, and the Task Force Model.

Warrant Service Officer (limited powers)
This type of agreement allows ICE to train, certify, and authorize state and local law enforcement officers to serve and execute administrative immigration warrants on people already in custody in their agency’s jail. The federal government created this version of the agreement in 2019 and it’s sometimes referred to as “287(g)-lite,” because it has required less training and delegated fewer responsibilities to local law enforcement.

Jail Enforcement Model (more power, jails only)
Under this model, ICE delegates certain immigration authorities to state and local law enforcement agencies to identify immigrants in state and local custody and place them into immigration proceedings. Corrections officers in local jails, under the supervision of ICE, are deputized by the federal government to interrogate people in their custody about their immigration status and funnel them into the deportation pipeline.

Jail enforcement 287(g) agreements put immigration enforcement at the center of local jails, giving corrections officers duties they are ill-equipped to perform and increasing the likelihood of errors and abuse. These agreements are commonly accompanied by contracts to rent jail space to detain immigrants in removal proceedings or awaiting deportation, allowing counties to profit from the cruelty of immigration detention.

Task Force Model (most power)
ICE describes this type of agreement as “a force multiplier” that allows state and local law enforcement agencies to make immigration arrests during routine police enforcement. This model, the broadest and deepest form of collusion with ICE, essentially turns police officers into ICE agents.

The 287(g) Task Force Model was discontinued under President Obama following widespread, documented civil rights abuses associated with the program, including racial profiling. ICE resurrected the model this year.

287(g) agreements:

• Turn even the most minor interactions with local law enforcement into life-altering situations: detention, deportation, and separation from families.
• Promote racial profiling.
• Reallocate local tax dollars away from community safety and toward mass deportations.
• Create legal risks and liability for our towns. 287(g) agreements expose towns to lawsuits when rights are violated, especially when local officers without proper training attempt to enforce complex immigration laws.
• Erode public trust in law enforcement. When people fear that contacting police may result in immigration consequences, they hesitate to report crimes, seek help, or assist in investigations.
• Weaken overall community safety. When people are too afraid to call for help or cooperate with law enforcement, crimes go unreported or unresolved, making our communities less safe.

If the government can use its power against one group today, expanding those abuses is inevitable. Attacks on civil liberties rarely stay confined to one population for long.

Everyone in the United States, regardless of citizenship or immigration status, has guaranteed rights under the Constitution. Read our Know Your Rights materials to help protect yourself and those you care about.

Explore our 287(g) Toolkit to learn about harmful agreements between North Carolina law enforcement and federal immigration agents — and how to oppose them in your community. The toolkit includes background information, model policies, advocacy tactics, and messaging guidance.