WCSO Enters into 287g Agreement with ICE

The Williamson County Sheriff’s Office has entered into a 287g agreement with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency following the signing of a new state law requiring ICE cooperation.

The move comes months after a state bill was signed into law requiring sheriff’s offices to enter into agreements with ICE by January 1, 2027, with more than 80 agencies across the state having entered into one of three programs run by the controversial federal agency.

According to ICE documents, the agreement for WCSO to participate in ICE’s Warrant Service Officer program was signed June 30, meaning that some WCSO deputies will be trained and certified to issue federal immigration warrants to people detained in the county jail.

“This is a way that we can participate in the program, be compliant with the law as it reads, and continue to work with our federal partners to address the problem,” Sheriff Jeff Hughes said, adding that WCSO may be eligible for additional federal grants based on its participation in the program.

“It's detention deputies that will go through the training phase for this program, and really all it changes is it allows them to serve the warrants as an agent of ICE, so rather than them  [ICE] coming out and having to execute that paperwork, our deputies will be able to do that in [the jail]. 

Hughes told the Williamson Scene that around four to six detention deputies will go through an online federal training program to become certified to issue the federal warrants, with a goal of training enough booking deputies to be able to have certified deputies working 24/7.

“I think it's going to be fairly manageable because the training that it's going to require is online, so that's not as cumbersome to us. We don't have to send these people off-site or out of state to get them trained up, and it won't really affect their daily responsibilities.”

Last year, Hughes told the Williamson Scene that he had been researching the various agreements and had spoken with ICE officials, who were interested in WCSO's participation in ICE’s detention program. At the time, Hughes called the detention program “a losing proposition” for the WCSO, citing “space and money,” all while the county plans for a new jail and court complex.

ICE has increased nationwide operations in recent weeks, including in Williamson County, resulting in deadly shootings in Texas and Maine.