DHS Quietly Funnels Millions to Local Police to Expand Immigration Crackdown

The Trump administration’s immigration crackdown has taken a quieter, more insidious turn under DHS leadership aiming to avoid daily headlines. Instead of ICE agents leading high-profile raids and arrests, the Department of Homeland Security is funneling millions of federal dollars to local police departments to do the dirty work.

Under the 287(g) task force program, local law enforcement officers receive federal reimbursement for salaries and benefits when trained to conduct immigration enforcement. This initiative, backed by last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, has already trained between 13,800 and 15,800 local officers—surpassing the roughly 12,000 new ICE agents hired since Trump’s return to office, according to a Fwd.us report.

Local police like Vinita, Oklahoma’s Chief Mark Johnson now routinely take immigrants directly to ICE detention centers without waiting for ICE agents, streamlining enforcement but raising serious concerns about accountability. Despite official denials, an ICE financial ledger obtained by journalist Ken Klippenstein reveals that ICE has paid over $170 million in incentives to local law enforcement for “successful location of illegal aliens,” including nearly $6 million related to unaccompanied children.

The financial incentives extend beyond police to local jails, with Pennsylvania facilities billing over $21 million in 2024 and 2025 to house ICE detainees. Private contractors are also cashing in, with DHS awarding contracts worth up to $1.2 billion for “skip-tracing” services that use data and surveillance—including AI—to locate targeted immigrants. This pay-for-speed system has been criticized as a bounty-hunting scheme, prompting legislation like Illinois Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi’s “No Private Bounty Hunters for Immigration Enforcement Act.”

This sprawling, profit-driven enforcement apparatus benefits companies with close ties to Trump and his allies, turning immigration enforcement into a lucrative business at the expense of immigrant rights and democratic accountability. The administration’s shift to a quieter, outsourced crackdown hides the human cost while expanding ICE’s reach through local police, private prisons, and contractors chasing financial rewards.