Wyoming Highway Patrol has signed an agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for immigration enforcement.
The agreement, commonly referred to as the 287(g) program, allows ICE to delegate certain powers, such as information sharing and “limited” immigration enforcement, to local officers under the program’s “Task Force Model.” This marks the first time a state agency has joined the program.
Coordinated under the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, section 287(g) allows 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 includes powers and responsibilities such as information sharing, warrant execution and the ability to “enforce limited immigration authority with ICE oversight” during traffic stops. All training provided to officers in the program is paid for by ICE.
Gov. Mark Gordon gave his support in a pre-recorded message as part of a wider press release sent out July 28.
“I am proud that our Wyoming Highway Patrol continues to support this effort and is now formalizing their commitment to this work, through our agreement with ICE,” said Gordon.
Gordon said the state has been firm in its commitment to helping secure the border. He previously deployed state law enforcement to the Texas-Mexico border in support of Gov. Greg Abbott’s border enforcement.
He said under the agreement, highway patrol officers will be able to access ICE databases and take “appropriate detention actions under direction of ICE.” He said there is no additional cost to the state.
Wyoming Highway Patrol is not alone in its participation in the 287(g) program. County sheriffs in Carbon, Campbell, Natrona, Sweetwater and Laramie counties have all previously signed onto the 287(g) program’s jail enforcement, task force or warrant service officer models.
Despite the program’s availability since 1988, it’s only seen widespread adoption since the turn of the century. According to a report by the ACLU, by the end of the Obama era, “only 34 local agencies remained in the program.”
With Pres. Trump’s cabinet having pushed for higher deportation quotas, the 287(g) program has seen well over 400 localities sign on according to ICE’s account, with the expectation that the Big Beautiful Bill will “fully fund“ the program.
Antonio Serrano is with ACLU Wyoming. Serrano says policies like these “secure the federal government's mechanism for mass deportation.”
“With the Wyoming state patrol joining, it can happen anywhere in the state,” said Serrano.
Serrano said the sudden announcement by the governor was not unexpected because of the coordination the state has already seen on the local level. According to Serrano, the five sheriffs who signed ICE agreements are in counties that make transportation to immigration courts in Denver logistically easier.
He also questioned if the state will end up footing some costs.
“Our tax dollars are already paid for the immigration enforcement, and now the immigration enforcement is going to get Wyoming law enforcement to do their job for them, to give them jail space for them to feed those detainees, to provide them with services,” Serrano said.
Immigrants in Wyoming continue to face hurdles as the executive branch makes its position as clear as the Legislature’s. In addition to ICE support, the Legislature passed a law that voids drivers licenses issued by other states to undocumented immigrants.
Despite ICE’s website describing the program as protecting communities from “aliens involved in gang activity, violent crimes, human smuggling, organized crime, sex offenses, drug smuggling, [and] money laundering,” reporting by The Colorado Sun and WyoFile suggests the majority of people taken into custody by ICE in Wyoming and Colorado this year had no criminal record.
This reporting was made possible by a grant from the Corporation For Public Broadcasting, supporting state government coverage in the state. Wyoming Public Media and Jackson Hole Community Radio are partnering to cover state issues both on air and online.
