Trump Administration Considering Plan to Empower Sheriffs to Arrest Illegal Immigrants

President-elect Donald Trump’s administration is exploring plans to give local sheriffs greater authority to help enforce immigration laws, potentially expanding a federal program to allow deputies to act as immigration agents.

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, the administration is considering broadening the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) 287(g) program. This program, added to the Immigration and Nationality Act in 1996 under President Bill Clinton, currently enables ICE to partner with state and local law enforcement to identify and deport “incarcerated criminal noncitizens.”

The voluntary program allows participating local agencies to notify ICE about illegal migrants in their custody or to detain them for immigration authorities—provided the migrants have been arrested on separate criminal charges. Trump’s plan would revive the program’s previously discontinued task force model, which authorized deputies and officers to conduct immigration stops and arrests directly.

Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar and a former acting ICE director, reportedly supports reinstating the task force model, which was phased out in 2012. Homan believes increased arrests would act as a deterrent to illegal immigration, and empowering sheriffs would play a critical role in achieving that.

One proposal under consideration would redirect billions of federal dollars—currently used to reimburse nonprofits and cities aiding newly arrived migrants at the border—to local law enforcement agencies that turn over illegal migrants to ICE, according to sources familiar with the discussions.

While Trump’s specific plans remain undefined, practical limitations on deporting an estimated 11 million illegal migrants remain a topic of debate. Critics, however, argue that the long-standing “11 million” figure is outdated and grossly underestimates the current number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. “We’ve had at least 11 million come illegally in the past four years alone, thanks to Democrat open borders,” some note, claiming the actual numbers are far higher.

In addition, the Brookings Institution has projected that continued high immigration, including illegal immigration, could lead to a 32.2% increase in the U.S. population by 2100, with advocates citing the need for diversity as a key justification for maintaining high levels of immigration.