(The Center Square) – A bill that passed the state legislature and has been sent to the governor does not give “full authority” to law enforcement in Texas to partner with the Trump administration on deportation efforts, contrary to recent claims.
After the Texas Senate passed SB 8 in conference committee over the weekend, President Donald Trump said they “passed a strong 287(g) bill to give local Texas Law Enforcement FULL AUTHORITY to assist the Federal Government in arresting and detaining criminals who are in our Country illegally. The Texas House needs to pass SB8, as written. I am watching closely. It is important to Texas and to our country!,” Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick reposted on X.
He’s referring to a so-called immigration enforcement bill that only applies to 254 Texas sheriff’s offices. It excludes 788 municipal police departments and all state agencies in Texas. The Texas Department of Public Safety testified against it. Neither Texas DPS nor the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the state agency that operates the prison and jail system in Texas, have signed any 287(g) memorandum of agreements (MOAs) with U.S. Customs and Enforcement as of June 3, according to ICE.
In March, during a House committee hearing, Texas DPS Deputy Director of Law Enforcement Operations Lt. Col. Jason Taylor expressed opposition.
“If I can give you an honest assessment of 287(g), it’s a very important tool in the toolbox for immigration enforcement,” he said, “But we have troopers out making traffic stops, criminal arrests, special agents responding to threats; 278(g) is a processing tool. It allows you to process illegal immigrants. If we’re tying up special agents … we’re taking troopers, special agents [Texas] Rangers off the line to process, we’re diminishing some of the public safety aspects of our agency.”
The Trump administration has called on law enforcement officials in all counties in all states to participate in three models, a Jail Enforcement Model (JEM), Task Force Model (TFM) and Warrant Service Officer (WSO) model, The Center Square reported.
So far, a record 635 MOAs have been signed between ICE and local authorities in 40 states, with another 68 pending, as of May 31, The Center Square reported.
So far, 63 out of 254 Texas sheriffs, the Office of Texas Attorney General and Texas National Guard have signed 287(g) MOAs, The Center Square reported. Only one police department, Nixon, in Gonzales County, has. Under SB 8, Nixon and local police departments receive no support from the state.
In February, Patrick complained that the Dallas Police Department wasn’t complying with ICE detainer requests. The solution, he said, was for the legislature to pass SB 8, which would require “everyone in Texas … to conform with 287(g) program so that they’re trained … to turn people over to ICE.” DPD has been hamstrung by a “far left, woke” city council who “told this chief do not participate with ICE,” he told Fox News.
Patrick was referring to the Biden administration model, not the Trump administration model, which is requesting task force and interdiction assistance. The version of SB 8 that was sent to the governor doesn’t apply to DPD, state or local agencies, according to the conference committee report, The Center Square reported.
For sheriffs who don’t comply with SB 8, no threats of withholding funds is included as a penalty. For those who do, the grant program is not merit-based.
SB 8 also appears to include loopholes. In Section 753.153, it states that a sheriff that didn’t enter into an agreement “shall annually provide proof to the attorney general of the sheriff’s attempt to enter into the agreement.” Nothing in the bill requires them to sign the agreement. Meaning, Democratic sheriffs could apply to participate, get accepted, and not sign the agreement, and would not be in violation of the law, multiple officials at the federal, state and local level who’ve expressed concerns about the bill told The Center Square.
Additionally, in a May 23, 2025, email sent to county officials obtained by The Center Square, the TDCJ is no longer “accepting warrant arrests only new OLS [Operation Lone Star] arrests.” Briscoe Unit Warden Miguel Martinez said the unit “will not accept bench warrants from TDCJ, nor any warrants for individuals who have been released to the public on any bond. We will be accepting individuals with new OLS charges.”
According to Texas DPS data, more than 443,000 criminal noncitizens have been booked in Texas jails, The Center Square reported. Yet DPS and TDCJ have signed no MOAs with ICE.
By contrast, Democratic-led Arizona’s Department of Corrections and Massachusetts Department of Corrections are participating in the JEM.
Florida has the greatest number of state agencies – all 67 sheriff’s offices, roughly 90 police departments, multiple university police departments, including boards of trustees; county commissioners, airport police, multiple departments of corrections, among others – that have signed MOAs with ICE for one or all three of its 287(g) programs.
