Which Houston-Area Counties Have Signed Agreements to Cooperate with ICE?
A new report from NPR reveals that ICE’s 287(g) program, which deputizes local police to enforce federal immigration law, has exploded under President Trump’s second term. As of February 2026, ICE reports 1,427 active agreements across 40 states, up from just 45 in 2019.
Several counties in the greater Houston area have signed these agreements. If you live or work in these communities, it is important to understand what these agreements mean and how they could affect you or your family.
What Is a 287(g) Agreement?
Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act allows ICE to enter into agreements with state and local law enforcement agencies, delegating certain immigration enforcement powers to local officers. Under these agreements, local police, sheriff’s deputies, and constables can receive ICE training and then perform functions that are normally reserved for federal immigration officers.
There are three main types of 287(g) agreements, and the differences between them matter:
Warrant Service Officer (WSO): The Most Limited
Under a WSO agreement, trained local officers can serve and execute ICE-issued arrest warrants and removal orders on individuals in jail at the time of their scheduled release. They can also detain and transport those individuals to ICE custody.
If you are arrested on criminal charges in a WSO county and ICE has already issued a warrant for you, the jail can serve that warrant and hold you for ICE when you would otherwise be released. Officers cannot independently investigate your immigration status. They can only act on warrants ICE has already issued.
Jail Enforcement Model (JEM): Broader Jail Screening
The JEM gives local officers more authority than the WSO, but still only inside the jail. Under a JEM agreement, officers can:
- Interrogate anyone booked into jail about their immigration status
- Issue immigration detainers (hold requests) to keep someone in custody for ICE
- Serve arrest warrants and removal orders
- Detain and transport individuals to ICE facilities
In practice, this means that everyone booked into jail in a JEM county, even for minor offenses, may be questioned about their immigration status. If officers believe you are removable, they can issue a detainer and hold you for ICE for up to 48 hours beyond your scheduled release.
Task Force Model (TFM): The Broadest and Most Aggressive
The TFM is the most expansive model and the one that raises the most serious civil rights concerns. Under a TFM agreement, officers can enforce immigration law during their routine duties out in the community, not just inside a jail. TFM powers include:
- Questioning anyone the officer believes may be an undocumented immigrant about their right to be in the United States
- Arresting without a warrant anyone the officer has reason to believe is in the country unlawfully and is likely to escape
- Preparing immigration charging documents, including Notices to Appear (the document that initiates removal/deportation proceedings)
- Issuing immigration detainers
- Administering oaths and taking sworn statements
A routine traffic stop, a call for service, or any encounter with local law enforcement in a TFM county can now turn into an immigration investigation. Officers don’t need a warrant or a prior ICE request. Police officers in counties with these agreements in place can initiate immigration enforcement on their own based on their belief that someone may be undocumented.
Under all three models, once custody is transferred to ICE, the local jail can hold you for up to 48 hours. If ICE doesn’t pick you up within that window, you must be released.
Which Houston-Area Counties Have Agreements?
Based on ICE’s official list of participating agencies (updated February 18, 2026) and the actual signed agreements, here is what the greater Houston area looks like:
Galveston County: The Most Aggressive in the Region
Galveston County has signed more 287(g) agreements than any other county in the Houston area, covering both jail-based and community-based enforcement:
| Agency | Agreement Type | Date Signed |
|---|---|---|
| Galveston County Sheriff’s Office | Warrant Service Officer (WSO) | March 26, 2025 |
| Galveston County Sheriff’s Office | Jail Enforcement Model (JEM) | June 8, 2020 |
| Galveston County Sheriff’s Office | Task Force Model (TFM) | July 23, 2025 |
| Galveston County Constable Precinct 1 | Task Force Model (TFM) | September 9, 2025 |
| Galveston County Constable Precinct 2 | Task Force Model (TFM) | September 22, 2025 |
| Galveston County Constable Precinct 4 | Task Force Model (TFM) | September 9, 2025 |
| League City Police Department | Task Force Model (TFM) | September 22, 2025 |
| League City Police Department | Warrant Service Officer (WSO) | September 22, 2025 |
Galveston County stands out for several reasons. The Sheriff’s Office has all three types of agreements: jail screening, warrant service, and community enforcement. On top of that, three separate Constable precincts and the League City Police Department have signed their own Task Force Model agreements. This means that constables doing routine patrol, serving civil papers, or responding to calls — and League City police conducting traffic stops or answering calls for service — now have the authority to question people about their immigration status and make warrantless arrests.
The 2020 agreements were jail-only. The escalation to community enforcement through the TFM happened entirely in 2025.
Fort Bend County
| Agency | Agreement Type | Date Signed |
|---|---|---|
| Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office | Jail Enforcement Model (JEM) | May 28, 2025 |
| Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office | Warrant Service Officer (WSO) | May 28, 2025 |
Fort Bend signed both jail-based agreements on the same day. There is currently no Task Force Model agreement in Fort Bend County, meaning immigration enforcement authority is limited to the jail. However, given the statewide trend, that could change.
Brazoria County
| Agency | Agreement Type | Date Signed |
|---|---|---|
| Brazoria County Sheriff’s Office | Warrant Service Officer (WSO) | August 7, 2025 |
Brazoria has the most limited agreement in the region: WSO only. Officers can serve ICE-issued warrants at the jail, but cannot independently screen inmates or enforce immigration law in the community.
Chambers County
| Agency | Agreement Type | Date Signed |
|---|---|---|
| Chambers County Sheriff’s Office | Jail Enforcement Model (JEM) | June 9, 2020 |
Chambers County signed its agreement during Trump’s first term. It remains a jail-only model.
Montgomery County
| Agency | Agreement Type | Date Signed |
|---|---|---|
| Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office | Jail Enforcement Model (JEM) | June 9, 2020 |
Montgomery County has had a JEM agreement since 2020. NPR’s report references a Montgomery County agreement, though the link in that article appears to be broken. According to ICE’s official participating agencies list, the agreement remains active.
Liberty County
| Agency | Agreement Type | Date Signed |
|---|---|---|
| Liberty County Sheriff’s Office | Warrant Service Officer (WSO) | January 30, 2026 |
Liberty County is the most recent addition in the Houston area, signing a WSO agreement in January 2026.
Waller County
| Agency | Agreement Type | Date Signed |
|---|---|---|
| Waller County Sheriff’s Office | Warrant Service Officer (WSO) | February 12, 2020 |
Waller County has had a WSO agreement since early 2020.
Harris County: A Notable Absence
Harris County does not currently have a 287(g) agreement. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, a Democrat, ended the county’s previous 287(g) agreement in 2017 and has not signed a new one.
That said, Harris County’s position is complicated:
- Commissioners Court voted 4-1 in early 2026 to pass a motion condemning DHS’s deployment of ICE agents in cities across the country.
- Mayor John Whitmire has sent mixed signals. In November 2025, he acknowledged that Houston police are cooperating with ICE, saying, “I’m not going to say that we’re not cooperating with ICE, because that’s frankly not true.” The Houston Chronicle reported that HPD officers called ICE more than 100 times in 2025 to alert the federal agency of encounters with people who had active immigration warrants — compared to just nine times in 2024. However, Whitmire has also stated, “We do not ask or care what your immigration status is.”
- Texas Senate Bill 8, signed into law in June 2025, requires all Texas sheriffs who operate a jail to sign a 287(g) agreement with ICE by December 1, 2026. The Attorney General can sue any sheriff who refuses. This means Harris County will almost certainly be required to sign an agreement within the year, regardless of Sheriff Gonzalez’s position. SB 8 also established a grant program for counties under 1 million people — but Harris County, with nearly 5 million residents, would have to cover the costs itself. The Houston Chronicle reported this would cost “well over $1 million.”
The Houston Police Officers’ Union president Douglas Griffith explained HPD’s current policy: “Our policy is that if we have an outstanding warrant, we call. Outside of that, we’re not working with ICE.”
What This Means If You Are an Immigrant in the Houston Area
If you are an immigrant, whether undocumented, in removal proceedings, or even a lawful permanent resident with past criminal issues, these agreements have practical consequences:
- In Galveston County, any encounter with local law enforcement, even a traffic stop, can now involve immigration questioning and potentially a warrantless arrest. This is the most aggressive enforcement posture in the Houston area.
- In Fort Bend, Chambers, Montgomery, and Waller counties, immigration enforcement is currently limited to the jail. If you are arrested and booked on any criminal charge, your immigration status will be investigated.
- In Brazoria and Liberty counties, officers can serve ICE warrants at the jail but cannot independently investigate immigration status.
- In Harris County, there is no 287(g) agreement yet, but HPD is cooperating with ICE on outstanding warrants, and SB 8 will likely force a formal agreement by the end of 2026.
Download the Agreements
You can download and read the actual signed agreements for each Houston-area agency:
- Brazoria County Sheriff’s Office — WSO (August 2025)
- Chambers County Sheriff’s Office — JEM (June 2020)
- Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office — JEM (May 2025)
- Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office — WSO (May 2025)
- Galveston County Sheriff’s Office — JEM (June 2020)
- Galveston County Sheriff’s Office — WSO (March 2025)
- Galveston County Sheriff’s Office — TFM (July 2025)
- Galveston County Constable Pct. 1 — TFM (September 2025)
- Galveston County Constable Pct. 2 — TFM (September 2025)
- Galveston County Constable Pct. 4 — TFM (September 2025)
- League City Police Department — TFM (September 2025)
- League City Police Department — WSO (September 2025)
- Liberty County Sheriff’s Office — WSO (January 2026)
- Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office — JEM (June 2020)
- Waller County Sheriff’s Office — WSO (February 2020)
Note: This list reflects agreements reported by NPR and published on ICE’s official participating agencies list as of February 18, 2026. Additional agreements may have been signed that are not yet reflected in public records.
Talk to an Immigration Attorney
If you or someone you know has been detained, questioned about your immigration status, or issued an immigration detainer in any of these counties, contact an experienced immigration attorney immediately. Understanding your rights can make a critical difference in your case.
Schedule a Free Consultation with Chris Hammond Law Firm →
Chris Hammond is an immigration attorney in Houston, Texas, representing individuals and families in deportation defense, asylum, family-based immigration, and more.
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