As the federal government ramps up efforts to detain and deport people in the U.S. illegally, the number of Kentucky law enforcement agencies and jails that have signed on to help those efforts has doubled in the first six months of 2025, federal data shows.
As of March 30, five Kentucky law enforcement groups had signed agreements with the Department of Homeland Security to help augment immigration enforcement. Homeland Security oversees U.S. Immigration, Customs and Enforcement.
By the end of May, that number had jumped to 11, according to a database published on the ICE website.
Officials from agencies that are assisting ICE said in interviews with the Herald-Leader that their agreements would help apprehend people in the U.S. illegally.
Some said they don’t plan to use those ICE agreements to justify raids or sweeps.
“It’s just a tool in our toolbox,” said Marc Kaiser, chief of the Heritage Creek Police Department, a small police department in Jefferson County that’s assisting ICE. “We aren’t using this to go out and do sweeps. My question is: Why aren’t other police departments signing on?”
But groups that advocate on behalf of immigrants and refugees say the use of local police and jails can sometimes lead to people being unjustly detained.
“Our biggest concern is that the more local agencies sign up, the more we will start seeing immigration enforcement in different ways carried out through their different enforcement models,” said Mizari Suarez, executive director of the Neighbors Immigration Clinic, which provides legal services to immigrants. “As a state, we don’t have enough private attorneys and nonprofit immigration attorneys to answer the calls for individuals unjustly detained through these enforcement models through 287g.”
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The Kentucky law enforcement groups that had existing 287 agreements before April were:
- Daviess County Sheriff’s Department: Warrant service officer, task force model
- Grayson County Detention Center: Warrant service officer, jail enforcement model
- Grayson County Sheriff’s office: Task force model
- Bullitt County Detention Center: Jail enforcement model
- Oldham County Detention Center: Jail enforcement model, warrant service officer
Since then, six more law enforcement agencies have joined the program. Five of those are the task force model, giving local law enforcement the greatest latitude to enforce immigration laws. Immigration is a civil procedure. Law enforcement typically oversees criminal procedures. Those agencies that have signed 287 agreements since March 30 include:
- Bracken County Sheriff’s Office: Task force model
- Heritage Creek Police Department: Task force model
- Kenton County Sheriff’s Office: Warrant service model, jail enforcement model
- Lyon County Sheriff’s Office: Task force model
- Marshall County Sheriff’s Office: Task force model
- Union County Sheriff’s Office: Task force model
Kentucky jails can also house ICE detainees. As of May 30, the following jails have contracts with the federal government to house ICE inmates, according to ICE detention statistics published on its website:
- Boone County
- Campbell County
- Oldham County
- Kenton County
- Laurel County
- Grayson County
- Hopkins County
Read the rest at the Herald-Leader.
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