ICE expands operations in Tennessee as major arrests are made

Congress created the 287(g) program through the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1996, which authorizes ICE to delegate to state and local law enforcement officers the authority to perform specified immigration functions only under ICE’s direction and supervision. 

Under previous administrations, only one 287(g) partnership was used, a Jail Enforcement Model (JEM). The Trump administration is advocating for law enforcement to participate in three: the JEM, a Task Force Model (TFM) and Warrant Service Officer (WSO) model, The Center Square reported.

In Tennessee, state and local law enforcement agencies have submitted 136 287(g) applications, the majority of which are for the WSO and JEM. Roughly one-third are for the TFM. As of Sept. 15, 55 applications are pending, according to the latest ICE data.

The JEM trains local law enforcement to identify, question and process “removable aliens – with criminal or pending criminal charges” who’ve already been arrested and detained in local and state jails. It enables them to work with ICE, including responding to ICE detainer requests. The WSO trains, certifies and authorizes state and local law enforcement officers to serve and execute administrative warrants on criminal foreign nationals already detained in their jails.

The TFM authorizes local law enforcement officers under the oversight of ICE to enforce limited immigration authority during routine police duties "such as identifying an alien at a DUI checkpoint and sharing information directly with ICE,” as well as apprehending, transporting and detaining them, ICE explains.  

“287(g) is a critical public safety initiative that gives law enforcement agencies another tool to protect their communities,” ICE Public Safety Partnership Division Assistant Director Russell Hott said. “By working closely with sheriffs, chiefs and our state partners across Tennessee, law enforcement is able to apprehend criminal illegal aliens who continue to prey on and victimize local communities and remove those threats from our neighborhoods.”

Since Jan. 20, 2025, Tennessee 287(g) partners have arrested more than 1,300 illegal foreign nationals and encountered more than 540 in local custody.

Last month, after the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office became an operational 287(g) partner, sheriff’s deputies arrested a Honduran national near the Tennessee-Alabama state line. He had two felony convictions for sexual battery in Franklin, Tennessee. As a result of their efforts and 287(g) partnership, he was taken into ICE custody and deported.

Through 287(g) partnerships, local law enforcement have arrested a previously deported Mexican national and aggravated felon convicted of sexual battery; a Honduran wanted by authorities in his country for a 2016 shooting massacre at a billiard hall; a Honduran national convicted of aggravated assault after previously being deported five times; an Indian national convicted of drug trafficking who was previously deported, among others.

“Partnerships like these are essential to public safety,” ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations-New Orleans acting Field Office Director Scott Ladwig said. “The continued expansion of 287(g) in Tennessee demonstrates the commitment of ICE and our law enforcement partners to remove dangerous criminal aliens from our communities.”

ICE ERO-New Orleans officials and ICE’s Public Safety Partnership Division recently attended the Tennessee Sheriffs’ Association Conference and met with sheriffs and other law enforcement leaders to discuss 287(g). ICE says that seven of the 10 safest cities in the U.S. are ones where local law enforcement are partnering with ICE. 

Earlier this year, the Tennessee legislature and governor enacted a law requiring all sheriffs’ offices to enter into a 287(g) agreement by Jan. 1, 2027. 

Nationwide, as of Sept. 15, ICE has signed 2,510 Memorandums ​of ​Agreement ​for 287(g) partnerships in 39 states and ​two U.S. ​territories. ​They include JEM agreements with 179 law enforcement agencies in ​30 ​states and ​one territory; WSO ​agreements with 553 law enforcement agencies in 33 ​states; and TFM agreements with 1,778 agencies in 33 states and ​two territories.