U.S. Representative Clay Higgins (R-LA), a reserve law enforcement officer with the Louisiana attorney general’s office, told local law enforcement to “get your mind right” and “get geared up” in order to help the Trump administration’s ICE efforts to deport illegal immigrants.
At a House Federal Law Enforcement Oversight Subcommittee hearing on Tuesday, entitled “Enhancing Federal, State, and Local Coordination in the Fight Against Criminal Illegal Aliens,” chairman of the subcommittee Higgins said he’s telling local law enforcement: “Get geared up, get your mind right, get your training and certifications squared away, because very soon you’ll be given the opportunity to join a task force with ICE in your state and your community to remove criminal illegals.”
To my Thin Blue Line Brothers and Sisters…it's time to gear up and join forces with ICE to remove criminal cartels from your communities. pic.twitter.com/2SY2TC2ub1
— Rep. Clay Higgins (@RepClayHiggins) March 12, 2025
The Subcommittee heard testimony from Sheriff Bob Gualtieri of Pinellas County, Florida who has been involved in increasing coordination between local law enforcement and ICE in Florida. All 67 sheriff-run jails and 10 county-run jails in Florida have entered into an agreement with ICE.
After President Trump expanded the ICE 287(g) Program, it was announced Wednesday that ICE has signed 287(g) “Jail Enforcement Model” agreements with 76 law enforcement agencies in 23 states; 287(g) “Warrant Service Officer” agreements with 143 law enforcement agencies in 22 states; and 287(g) “Task Force Model” agreements with 141 agencies in 16 states.
Note: According to immigration reporter Nick Miroff of The Atlantic, “ICE isn’t delivering the mass deportation Trump wants.”
Miroff wrote: “The results of the actual deportation push appear to be more modest, though not for lack of effort. ICE officers, some working six or seven days a week, made about 18,000 arrests last month, according to internal data I obtained. (ICE stopped publishing daily-arrest totals in early February as its numbers sagged.) By comparison, the agency tallied roughly 10,000 arrests in February 2024.”
