The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on September 2 that it will financially reward local law enforcement agencies that carry out its anti-immigrant agenda, effectively creating an incentive system in which the more people wanted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that an agency abducts, the more money it stands to make.
“Starting October 1, 2025, participating law enforcement will have these reimbursement opportunities,” DHS said in a press release posted today. “ICE will fully reimburse participating agencies for the annual salary and benefits of each eligible trained 287(g) officer, including overtime coverage up to 25% of the officer’s annual salary.”
The announcement continued: “Law enforcement agencies will be eligible for quarterly monetary performance awards based on the successful location of illegal aliens provided by ICE and overall assistance to further ICE’s mission to Defend the Homeland:
- 90% – 100% – $1,000 per eligible task force officer
- 80% – 89% – $750 per eligible task force officer
- 70% – 79% – $500 per eligible task force officer.”
The Section 287(g) program, named for the relevant provision of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, authorizes state and local law enforcement officers to carry out the work of an immigration officer. As of September 2, ICE had signed 287(g) agreements with more than 480 law enforcement agencies.
DHS is also using financial incentives to entice people to become ICE officers, saying that applicants may be eligible for a signing bonus up to $50,000 and student loan forgiveness up to $60,000.
ICE’s deputy director credited President Trump’s so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill” for its ability to launch the “reimbursement program.” The legislation will pour more than $170 billion dollars into the U.S. deportation system over the next four years.
“Altogether, this marks the largest investment in detention and deportation in U.S. history; a policy choice that does nothing to address the systemic failures of our immigration system while inflicting harm, sowing chaos, and tearing families apart,” the American Immigration Council said in a statement on the bill’s passage.
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