At court on Tuesday, Tom Green County Commissioners acknowledged the Memorandum of Agreement between the Tom Green County Sheriff’s Office and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under the Federal 287(g) enforcement program. Both commissioners and Sheriff Nick Hanna clarified that the agreement would have to take place under Texas law, following the passing of Senate Bill 8 in 2025, and that the item was posted so that it could be recorded in the public record.
What is the 287(g) program?
The federal 287(g) program was authorized via executive order, and established three classifications of Law Enforcement Agency (LEA) participation. Senate Bill 8 requires LEA compliance in counties of 100,000 residents or more, at the discretion of the Sheriff’s Office who determines the classification they wish to adopt.
How much does this cost?
Sheriff Nick Hanna clarified during the only public comment that the main difference between the current model and the Warrant Officer Program would be the additional training, which would be reimbursed through ICE, and that designated officers would be authorized to serve warrants within the jail. Sheriff Hanna said that this model was chosen for being the “least financially burdensome” of the available 287(g) designations.
Sheriff Hanna and Commissioners repeatedly clarified that the program would not authorize Tom Green County officers to participate in immigration enforcement outside of their normal duties, only to issue warrants to criminals already in custody.
About Senate Bill 8
SB 8 was signed into law on June 30, 2025 – as before mentioned, it requires participation in the program on the county level. Though currently county participation would be restricted to only the powers designated in the agreement (see below), in the future counties could choose to adopt the Task Force Model, which has received the bulk of criticism.
About the Task Force Model
The Task Force Model would grant approved LEA personnel the authority to:
“Interrogate any alien or person believed to be an alien as to his right to be or remain in the United States, and to process for immigration violations those individuals who have been arrested for State or
Federal criminal offenses.
“To arrest without a warrant any alien entering or attempting to unlawfully enter the United States in the officer’s presence or view, or any alien in the United States, if the officer has reason to believe the alien to be arrested is in the United States in violation of law and is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained. Subsequent to such arrest, the arresting officer must take the alien without unnecessary delay for examination before an immigration officer having authority…
“The power to arrest without warrant for felonies which have been committed and which are cognizable under any law of the United States regulating the admission, exclusion, expulsion, or removal of aliens, if the officer has reason to believe the alien to be arrested is in the United States in violation of law and is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained.”
Civil rights organizations have said that these measures would lead to massive repercussions.
In a statement released in 2025, the Workers Defense Action Fund, a labor group who represent immigrant workers, said “SB 8 will make our communities less safe, people will be more afraid to call their local law enforcement when they are victims of crimes, or witness crimes due to fear that they or a loved one will be deported. Its not just immigrants with this fear, but people in mixed status families
as well.”
Under this agreement, reimbursement for county funds and associated costs are not addressed, and would be subject to further MOAs, which we do not have access to at this time.
A Review of the Regulations
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.
The model authorizes designated personnel who would undergo training to serve and execute immigration warrants within the county jail at the time of release of custody to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Below is the text from the Memorandum of Agreement published by ICE:
Authorized Functions:
Participating LEA personnel are delegated only the following authorities listed below:
- The power and authority to serve and execute warrants of arrest for immigration violations, on designated aliens in LEA jail/correctional facilities at the time of the alien’s scheduled release from criminal custody in order to transfer custody of the alien to ICE;
- Upon transfer of the alien’s custody to ICE, the alien will continue to be held in the
LEA’s jail/correctional facilities for no more than 48 hours unless there exists an
agreement pursuant to which the LEA will continue to detain, for a reimbursable fee,
aliens for immigration purposes. In the absence of an agreement, if the alien is not
transferred to an ICE field office or an immigration detention facility within 48 hours,
the alien shall be released from the LEA jail/correctional facility. - The power and authority to serve warrants of removal on designated aliens in LEA jail/correctional facilities at the time of the alien’s scheduled release from criminal custody that executes the custodial transfer of the alien to ICE for removal purposes;
- Upon transfer of the alien’s custody to ICE, the alien will continue to be held in the
LEA’s jail/correctional facilities for no more than 48 hours unless there exists an
agreement pursuant to which the LEA will continue to detain, for a reimbursable fee,
aliens for immigration purposes. In the absence of an agreement, if the alien is not
transferred to an ICE field office or an immigration detention facility within 48 hours,
the alien shall be released from the LEA jail/correctional facility.
and - The power and authority to detain and transport, 8 U.S.C. § 1357(g)(1) and 8 C.F.R. §
287.5(c)(6), any aliens arrested pursuant to the immigration laws, to ICE-approved
detention facilities. - Only upon a request of an ICE officer authorizing such action may participating LEA
personnel transport the alien(s) to an ICE-approved detention facility for immigration
purposes, and only participating LEA personnel whose ICE Form 70-006 authorizes
such action and who are authorized by their LEA to conduct transport operations, may
conduct such action.
Additional Supervisory and Administrative Responsibilities: - The above immigration enforcement functions conducted by the participating LEA personnel
will be supervised and directed by ICE. Participating LEA personnel are not authorized to
perform immigration officer functions except when working under the supervision or direction of
ICE. Additional supervisory and administrative responsibilities for each entity include, but are
not limited to: - The LEA shall provide notification to the ICE officer immediately after participating LEA
personnel serve any warrant of arrest or warrant of removal that executes the custodial
transfer of the alien to ICE for removal purposes, in a manner mutually agreed upon by the
LEA and the FOD. - Participating LEA personnel must report all encounters with asserted or suspected claims
of U.S. citizenship to ICE immediately, but generally within one hour of the claim.
Full Memorandums of Agreement can be found on the ICE Website.
