How have state and local 287(g) agreements changed since January 2025 and which counties now host ICE detention beds?
Executive summary
Since January 2025, federal policy has driven a rapid nationwide revival and expansion of 287(g) delegations that deputize state and local officers for immigration enforcement, producing roughly a four‑ to five‑fold increase in agreements in some regions and over 1,300 Memoranda of Agreement across 40 states by early 2026 [1] [2] [3]. At the same time ICE has expanded its use of local jails and state facilities through detention bed contracts (IGSAs) and new construction, notably in Florida, but the supplied reporting does not contain a single, definitive, up‑to‑date roster of every county now hosting ICE detention beds [4] [5] [6].
1. The policy pivot since January 2025: a federal push to deputize local police
An executive order in January 2025 and subsequent administration directives explicitly revived and accelerated 287(g) as a central enforcement tool, positioning local law enforcement as a “force multiplier” for ICE amid limited federal deportation agents and producing hundreds of new MOAs within months [1] [3]. Independent watchdogs and reporting document dramatic geographic expansion: watchdog analysis and regional reporting describe fivefold growth of 287(g) partnerships in Mountain West jurisdictions in 2025 and more than 1,000 agreements nationwide as the program scaled [7] [2].
2. The architecture: 287(g) vs. detention bed contracts (IGSAs) and new standards
Observers stress the program’s dual architecture: 287(g) deputizes officers for immigration functions while Inter‑Governmental Service Agreements (IGSAs) and non‑dedicated contracts rent local jail beds to ICE for detention—two legally and operationally distinct mechanisms that have been expanded in tandem under the new enforcement posture [4] [8]. ICE updated detention and IGSA standards in 2025, a technical overhaul intended to align facility use with agency needs even as use of local jails increased [8] [9].
3. Where expansion is concentrated: states and counties highlighted in reporting
Florida emerges repeatedly as a focal point: state laws and administrative moves in 2025 produced sweeping engagement with 287(g), construction of large detention facilities, and a very high take‑up rate among local agencies—reporting cites over three‑quarters of Florida law enforcement agencies signing agreements in 2025 and new capacity being added by the state [5]. In other regions, local reporting and advocacy groups named counties where 287(g) programs were activated—North Dakota’s Dunn, Dickinson, Eddy, and McKenzie counties were listed as having signed agreements in spring 2025—as concrete examples of county‑level adoption [10].
4. The human‑rights and legal pushback versus administration rationale
Civil‑liberties groups and local critics warn the revived 287(g) and expanded detention footprint revives harms associated with racial profiling, family separations, and substandard detention conditions; the ACLU and others flagged the return of task‑force models and litigated some local implementations, while watchdogs documented inspection shortfalls as detentions rose [11] [12] [2]. The administration and allied analysts counter that deputization is necessary to meet enforcement goals given ICE staffing constraints and seeks to standardize oversight through revised national standards [1] [3] [8].
5. What can (and cannot) be said about exactly which counties now host ICE detention beds
Available sources document widespread reactivation and use of local facilities—Vera’s detention map and ICE facility datasets through mid‑2025 show hundreds of sites historically used and a subset active into 2025—but the reporting provided does not produce a verified, exhaustive county‑level list of current ICE detention bed hosts as of January 2026; instead it points to states and exemplar counties [6] [9] [5]. For a comprehensive county roster, ICE’s facilities listings and Vera’s interactive map are the primary public tools researchers and journalists use to map beds to counties, but that full mapping is not contained in the supplied excerpts [6] [9].
6. Bottom line: broader footprint, mixed transparency, local variation
Since January 2025 the program shifted from a more limited footprint to large‑scale engagement: thousands of deputizations, hundreds of new MOAs, and intensified use of local beds have materially increased the local role in federal immigration enforcement, with especially notable activity in Florida and marked upticks across Mountain West and Plains counties; however, granular county‑by‑county confirmation of every detention bed host requires cross‑referencing ICE/IGSA contract disclosures and Vera’s facility database because the provided sources do not list every county currently hosting ICE beds [1] [7] [6] [5] [3].