NPR l Tuesday, May 5, 2026 
ICE is giving local police big money to help with immigration enforcement

At a press conference in March, Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia, flanked by American flags, had a collection of large checks to give out. The money was part of a pool of $250 million from the state, and one by one, four sheriffs posed with oversized novelty checks. “Let’s start giving the money away,” Ingoglia told the room. “I am proud to give out these checks to these sheriffs standing in front of me for all the hard work that they’ve been doing, keeping our communities safe and helping to deport criminal illegal aliens.” The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office got around $100,000; the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office: nearly $1 million; the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office: more than $280,000; and the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office: nearly $50,000. The counties received the money after joining a federal program called 287(g), which gives local police the authority to arrest undocumented immigrants, normally the work of federal immigration officers. And the sheriffs were celebratory: They’re getting a lot of money for cooperating, from both the state and federal government. – How much money ICE has promised local police – Nationwide, the Department of Homeland Security is promising $100,000 for new vehicles and potentially tens of thousands more in equipment to law enforcement agencies who sign on. It also says it will reimburse the salaries and benefits of officers in the program – and touts the potential for bonuses based on an officer’s success in finding undocumented people, similar to a bounty hunter system…Read more