From the Oologah and Minco police departments to the Atoka and Major County sheriff's offices, 46 local law enforcement agencies have entered collaborative agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, in 2026.
That brings the total number of municipal, county and state agencies in cahoots with ICE via what are known as 287(g) agreements to 99, according to federal records.
Named for their section in federal statute, the inter-agency contracts deputize local police officers with immigration enforcement powers either on patrol and other regular duties, or within jails.
And while most municipal and county agencies have only a couple of officers trained and certified, new virtual training provided by ICE has allowed the Oklahoma Highway Patrol to deputize all 704 of its troopers, up and down the chain of command.
And as local police cooperation has continued to rise, so too has the number of immigration arrests.
Government data provided by ICE in response to a FOIA request, processed by the Deportation Data Project, and analyzed by KOSU, shows the federal agency has arrested more than 6,600 people for immigration violations in Oklahoma since the start of 2025, using a mix of 287(g) agreements and other established enforcement means.
About 1,500 of those arrests are attributed to 287(g) agreements alone.
Oklahoma has had an outsized role in President Trump's mass deportation efforts beyond the state's offer of manpower.
In March, the Senate confirmed Markwayne Mullin as Trump's hand-picked Secretary of Homeland Security. Mullin left his position in the Senate to accept the role.
Then, in June, the president nominated former Oklahoma state trooper Lance Shroyer to lead ICE. Now, Mullin and Shroyer are working together to take what Oklahoma has done with 287(g) agreements nationwide.
"Lance is coming straight from the operational field where he ran large-scale operations and worked alongside state and federal partners to remove illegal aliens from Oklahoma under the 287g program," Mullin told Oklahoma Voice in June. "With over 29 years of law enforcement experience, Lance will play a vital role in helping deliver on the President's mandate from the American people to target, arrest, and deport illegal aliens."
