Sheriff’s Office Signs ICE Agreement, What This Does And Doesn’t Mean

By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor

On March 27, the Dade County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) signed an agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) through ICE’s 287(g) program. This will allow the sheriff’s office to quickly identify criminal aliens who come through the Dade County Jail.

DCSO is still waiting for the necessary equipment and training from ICE, so the program is not yet being implemented in Dade. As of press time, the memorandum of agreement is pending.

Per ICE’s website, section 287(g) was added to the Immigration and Nationality Act in 1996 to allow ICE “to delegate to state and local law enforcement officers the authority to perform specified immigration officer functions under the agency’s direction and oversight.”

This year, President Donald Trump’s “Protecting the American People Against Invasion” executive order pushed ICE and law enforcement agencies to participate in 287(g).

There are only certain contexts in which the program comes into play. Per ICE’s website, the three 287(g) models are:

• “The Jail Enforcement Model is designed to identify and process removable aliens — with criminal or pending criminal charges — who are arrested by state or local law enforcement agencies.”
• “The Task Force Model serves as a force multiplier for law enforcement agencies to enforce limited immigration authority with ICE oversight during their routine police duties.”
• “The Warrant Service Officer program allows ICE to train, certify and authorize state and local law enforcement officers to serve and execute administrative warrants on aliens in their agency’s jail.”

DCSO is participating in the Warrant Service Officer model, meaning that the jail is where enforcement will happen. Captain Joe Chambers (DCSO division commander) explained that currently, when someone who has been arrested has a questionable legal residence status, the jail must house him/her until the department hears back from ICE. The 287(g) training and equipment will speed up this process by giving the department the equipment and training needed to identify individuals.

In the case of an arrest made in the middle of the night, DCSO will be able to confirm arrestees’ identities and any criminal records quickly instead of waiting to hear back from ICE the next day (or later).

Chambers explained that Dade officers will not be going out specifically looking for undocumented immigrants or criminal aliens. Noting the public’s perception that the program is intended to allow local law enforcement agencies to “cave in doors” and make these arrests, Chambers said, “That’s not it at all.”

The program simply gives the department the authority to confirm whether or not an arrestee is a citizen of the United States and whether or not they have a criminal record and are wanted on a federal warrant.

In cases of an illegal immigrant who does have a criminal record, DCSO asks ICE if they want to take over custody. If ICE says no, DCSO lets the arrestee go. Chambers said, “The narrative out there is that they’re just arresting everybody, but what we see is if an illegal immigrant comes to the jail and doesn’t have a criminal history, we’re told to let them go. What I’ve seen under the Trump administration, they’re not coming after people with non-criminal histories, but if you do have a pretty decent criminal history, yeah, they’re going to get you.”

As for what constitutes a notable criminal history, Chambers listed violent crimes, rape, theft, and drug-related crimes. From what he’s witnessed, ICE isn’t interested in tag light violations, driving with an expired license, and other such misdemeanors.

As required by state law [O.C.G.A. 42-4-16(a)(1) through (5)], the sheriff’s office reports quarterly on the number of illegal immigrant cases—both criminal and non-criminal. These reports are posted on the sheriff’s office website at dadecounty-ga.gov/316/Divisions under the Jail section.

From January-March of this year, DCSO made 12 inquiries about arrestees with questionable legal residence status. ICE’s Law Enforcement Support Center (LESC) indicated that nine of these 12 were illegal aliens. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued immigration detainers for five of the nine.

From April-June 2025, DCSO made 17 inquiries, of which the LESC indicated that six were illegal aliens. Homeland Security issued immigration detainers for five of these six.

Chambers explained that the 287(g) program financially benefits local taxpayers because the equipment isn’t paid for with local funds, but it can be used to help identify arrestees in other non-ICE related situations. Also, due to the sped-up process, the jail will save some of the funds that would otherwise be used to feed and house inmates awaiting responses from ICE.

Chambers emphasized that the sheriff’s office will not be profiling when making arrests. “If somebody’s coming to jail, it’s for the same charge whether they’re a citizen or non-citizen. At the end of the day, you don’t just violate people’s rights.”