Kansans overwhelmingly voted for President Donald Trump. So why are so many local authorities hesitant to help his administration carry out its immigration policy goals?

In the first 50 days of the new Trump administration, ICE said it made over 32,000 immigration-related arrests in communities across the country — nearly as many as in all of 2024.

But that trend doesn’t seem to have reached Kansas. Despite online rumors of immigration raids, authorities told the Kansas News Service there’s no evidence of major enforcement actions in the state so far this year.

Immigration authorities are targeting states like Florida and Texas, which have more residents who lack permanent legal status than Kansas does.

That’s not the only reason, though. Federal agencies would need help from local law enforcement to accomplish their goal of widespread arrests and deportations – and many police departments and sheriff’s offices in Kansas are hesitant to help.

This year, at the request of state Attorney General Kris Kobach, a Senate committee introduced a bill that would force local law enforcement agencies to collaborate with ICE.

The 287(g) agreements, as they’re known, are voluntary programs that grant local law enforcement powers usually reserved for federal immigration authorities.

The state attorney general’s office directed the Kansas Bureau of Investigation in February to enter into such an agreement. But only a handful of officers from the KBI would be involved — far fewer than the hundreds of local personnel that would have been roped into immigration enforcement under the proposed statewide mandate.

The bill faced immediate pushback from law enforcement associations. After two canceled hearings, it is no longer in consideration as the legislative session nears its end.

Similar mandates passed in Florida and Georgia, but foundered in Kansas. It’s a key obstacle for the Trump administration’s stated ambition of prosecuting “the largest deportation in the history of our country.”

‘Force multipliers’

The 287(g) agreements stem from a 1996 law, but have evolved since then. One of the many executive orders President Donald Trump signed on his first day back in the Oval Office directed the Department of Homeland Security to expand the program into as many local law enforcement agencies as possible.

Since January, more than 220 additional city, county and state agencies have signed up to collaborate with ICE, with dozens more pending review.

But not all 287(g) agreements are created equal. Some are more limited, only training local officers to issue immigration-related arrest warrants for people they have already arrested for other reasons. Other contracts empower police to interrogate detainees about their citizenship status.

The most expansive agreement is the “Task Force Model.” ICE describes this program as a “force multiplier,” training local law enforcement personnel to question, detain and arrest anyone they suspect of residing in the country illegally. The program has over 130 participating entities across the country.

Immigrant advocacy groups have long decried 287(g) programs — especially task forces — saying they facilitate racial profiling and undermine trust in local authorities.

Some of the same criticisms have come from local law enforcement officials themselves, like Sedgwick County Sheriff Jeff Easter.

He said there are not enough federal immigration officials to carry out widespread arrests or deportations of people living in the country illegally.

“And so they’re trying to reach out to local law enforcement to start doing basically ICE’s job,” he said in an interview with the Kansas News Service.

After Kansas lawmakers introduced the bill that would have forced sheriff’s offices like his to work with ICE, Easter voiced his concerns: that he already feels too short-staffed to enforce criminal law, let alone federal civil laws outside his usual jurisdiction.

The two-page Senate bill does not specify what kind of agreement would be required, or provide for funding to offset added costs. Departments that failed to comply would lose state funds as punishment.

Wyandotte County Sheriff Daniel Soptic said he wasn’t ready to weigh in on possibly entering — or being forced into — a 287(g) agreement. But he echoed Easter’s concerns about limited resources.

“It’s hard to take on extra duties that are going to further diminish manpower,” he said, “when I don’t really have it to spare to begin with.”

A deepening national police shortage seemed to abate in 2023, though large departments are still recruiting fewer officers on average than they were before the pandemic. Kansas lawmakers are considering a bill that would lower the minimum age for police recruitment and training from 21 to 20.

Beyond the administrative costs, some worry 287(g) agreements could leave local law enforcement agencies vulnerable to expensive lawsuits. Federal agents enjoy forms of legal protection that city and county officials do not.

Easter said there are potentially expensive legal risks if an officer makes a mistake enforcing unfamiliar policies.

“The lawsuit would be filed against me and the sheriff’s office. And if we lose, then it’s the taxpayer’s money that’s going to pay for it,” he said.

Police warn there could also be non-material costs of partnering with ICE.

Finney County is home to Garden City in southwest Kansas. It’s a community where the census estimates 13% of the population are noncitizens. Sheriff Steve Martinez said local law enforcement relies on trust when dealing with that population.

“We just don’t want people to be scared to call us if they need help,” he said.

And no matter how sympathetic a sheriff or police chief might be to the administration’s campaign against illegal immigration, Martinez said a mandate offends other core values.

“Nobody really likes to be forced to do anything,” he said.

Meeting halfway

Despite hesitation to join ICE “task forces,” some law enforcement agencies — including the Finney County Sheriff’s Office — have agreed to shore up deportation efforts in smaller ways.

The most limited 287(G) agreement an agency can sign follows the Warrant Service Officer model, or WSO. This agreement allows trained officers to issue civil immigration arrest warrants, but only for individuals who are already in jail on other charges.

ICE then has 48 hours after local charges have been sorted out to collect the detainees.

Aside from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, ICE records show WSO agreements in four Kansas counties: Jackson and Finney, as of 2020; plus Reno and Cowley this year.

Sheriff Darrian Campbell in Hutchinson said he signed up the Reno County Sheriff’s Office for a WSO because it seemed like the least burdensome way to expel people without legal status who come through his jail.

“You have some folks that are here, they did not go through the actual legal process to come into the country, and then they start committing crimes,” he said.

Campbell said he would request training for up to eight officers to serve administrative warrants on behalf of ICE.

“It’s not really much more than what we’re doing now,” he said.

But Campbell said he would not consider joining more involved collaborations with ICE, for the same reasons of cost, liability and community trust. And as of March 14, Campbell said four of his jail’s 178 inmates had been flagged for federal immigration authorities.

He said that small proportion reflected how much of the crime in his community comes from migrants who entered the country illegally.

Zane Irwin reports on politics, campaigns and elections for the Kansas News Service. You can email him at zaneirwin@kcur.org.

The Kansas News Service is a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio focused on health, the social determinants of health and their connection to public policy.

Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished by news media at no cost with proper attribution and a link to ksnewsservice.org.

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