More Missouri law enforcement agencies have joined ICE immigration partnership since April 2025

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Missouri law enforcement agencies continue to expand their participation in a federal immigration enforcement partnership more than nine months after the state first moved to align itself with President Donald Trump’s directive to broaden cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

A 1996 federal law allows U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to give state and local law enforcement limited authority to carry out immigration enforcement under ICE supervision, under an additional provision known as Section 287(g).  

ICE operates three models that law enforcement agencies can sign up to take part in: Jail Enforcement Model, Task Force Model and Warrant Service Officer Program. Agencies may participate in more than one model.

Under the Task Force Model, participating officers may identify individuals they believe are not U.S. citizens during routine policing, share information with ICE and, in some cases, carry out immigration-related arrests or serve administrative warrants, but only under ICE supervision.

Under the Jail Enforcement Model, jail staff, not patrol deputies, are trained to identify and process inmates who are in custody on local or state charges and may be subject to removal.

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.

As of Jan. 16, 2026, there are 39 law enforcement agencies across Missouri that have signed 287(g) agreements with ICE, according to federal records. Those agreements include 28 Task Force Model partnerships, seven Warrant Service Officer agreements and four Jail Enforcement Model agreements. Three additional agencies outside mid-Missouri have agreements pending.

In Mid-Missouri, several agencies have joined the program over the past year:

• Missouri State Highway Patrol, Task Force Model, signed March 21, 2025
  
• Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office, Task Force Model, signed July 29, 2025
  
• Phelps County Sheriff’s Office, Task Force Model, signed Oct. 17, 2025
  
• Pettis County Sheriff’s Office, Jail Enforcement Model, signed Aug. 28, 2025
  
• Callaway County Sheriff’s Office, Jail Enforcement Model, signed Dec. 2, 2025
  

The Missouri State Highway Patrol, which operates statewide, has taken one of the most expansive roles under the program. Patrol officials said 53 troopers and officers are now certified under 287(g).

From Sept. 26, 2025-January 2026, MSHP officers obtained ICE detainers on approximately 36 people, according to the agency. Patrol officials said the detainers resulted from officers’ normal enforcement duties rather than targeted immigration operations.

Federal agencies are not required to notify state or local authorities when operating within their jurisdictions, the patrol noted.

County sheriffs have emphasized that participation does not mean conducting immigration sweeps.

Callaway County Sheriff’s Office officials said the department enrolled in the program late last year, but is currently limited to the Jail Enforcement Model and remains in a holding pattern because of delays tied to a federal government shutdown in late 2025.

"At this time, there's nothing going on except we are in basically a holding pattern as I have not heard from Immigration and Customs Enforcement since November 2025,” the Callaway County Sheriff’s office said in a statement. 

Callaway County Sheriff's Office officials said their goal is to eventually send a small number of jail employees to ICE training so they can access federal systems to verify immigration status. The sheriff’s office also said it will not actively seek out people who are in the country illegally, but would assist ICE or other federal agencies if requested, “in whatever capacity allowed by law.”

Missouri’s growing participation follows executive orders signed in January 2025 by both President Donald Trump and Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe, encouraging closer coordination with federal immigration authorities.

Nationwide, ICE reports 1,317 Memorandums of Agreements 287(g) agreements across 40 states. 

Nationwide, ICE reports 1,317 active 287(g) memorandums of agreement across 40 states. Those agreements include 147 Jail Enforcement Model partnerships in 31 states, 448 Warrant Service Officer agreements in 35 states, and 722 Task Force Model agreements spanning 34 states.