OKPOLICY.ORG
Key takeaways
- Oklahoma’s extensive cooperation with ICE via 287(g) agreements has contributed to the state having the fifth-highest immigrant arrests per capita in the nation in 2025.
- 287(g) agreements harm all Oklahomans, regardless of immigration status. When a parent is deported, families can lose an average of 70 percent of their income. Children in immigrant families — the vast majority of whom are U.S. citizens — can develop PTSD and suicidal thoughts after a parents deportation.
- Immigration enforcement in the past year has harmed job prospects for U.S. born workers and the labor market overall. Signing more 287(g) agreements will further harm Oklahoma’s economy as more people stay home due to the fear of being arrested and deported.
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Immigration enforcement around the country has ramped up in unprecedented ways, and Oklahoma is no exception. Although it may no longer dominate national headlines, these enforcement efforts have not slowed; they have increasingly shifted into local communities and law-enforcement agencies. While news headlines have focused on the mass raids and immigration arrests spearheaded by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in states like Minnesota, immigration enforcement in Oklahoma has been carried out in part by local police agencies collaborating with ICE via 287(g) agreements. 287(g) agreements are a type of law enforcement collaboration created decades ago, when anti-immigrant sentiment in the United States was at record high levels, that deputize local police to carry out immigration enforcement duties. The extent of their authority depends on which 287(g) model they sign onto.
Prior to 2025, Oklahoma only had three 287(g) agreements in Okmulgee, Canadian, and Tulsa counties. Since then, however, the number of these 287(g) programs in Oklahoma has exploded. As of August 2026, more than 95 Oklahoma counties, municipalities, and state agencies have signed 287(g) agreements.
When Oklahoma police departments enter into agreements with ICE, they erode community trust, divert local resources, and harm all Oklahomans, citizens and non-citizens alike. Instead of collaborating with ICE to deport Oklahoma residents, local law enforcement agencies must focus on protecting public safety for everyone.
Cooperation with ICE has skyrocketed in Oklahoma
Dozens of Oklahoma localities have signed 287(g) agreements, from state agencies like the Oklahoma Highway Patrol — whose troopers patrol more than 111,000 miles of state roads and highways — to small towns like Sterling, Oklahoma, with a population of less than 700 people. This means that immigration enforcement is being folded into routine traffic stops. Put simply, the federal government does not have to send ICE agents en masse to Oklahoma because local cops are already carrying out immigration enforcement activities. Last year, Oklahoma had the fifth-highest immigrant arrests per capita in the nation.
Further, Oklahoma’s cooperation with ICE has made it a major recipient of federal immigration enforcement investments: the state has received more than $47.3 million from these partnerships, the second-highest amount any state has received.
Law enforcement can commit to varying levels of immigration enforcement in 287(g) agreements, yet most agreements local law enforcement agencies in Oklahoma are signing are the Task Force Model. This is the most expansive model that allows regular police officers to perform most of the duties of immigration agents, and across the country, such broad authority has resulted in cases of racial profiling where people are targeted on the suspicion that they may be undocumented. Deputizing local law enforcement to carry out federal immigration duties may drive up the number of detainments and bring money to localities, but the fact is that when local police sign up for 287(g) agreements, they cause a myriad of other negative effects for the very people they are supposed to serve and protect.
Punitive immigration enforcement directly harms families and children
In addition to leading to more arrests of immigrants, the vast majority of whom have no criminal convictions, 287(g) agreements and heightened immigration enforcement in general are also linked to other negative spillover effects.
For instance, when a family member is arrested, detained, or deported, they are ripped out of their communities. This directly disrupts family stability and can leave families without the primary breadwinner. Families can lose an average of 70 percent of their income within six months of a parent’s immigration-related detainment or deportation. Any Oklahoman can understand how devastating the impact would be on a family suddenly unable to make ends meet on groceries, housing, and other necessary bills.
Increased immigration enforcement also has a negative effect on the mental and physical health of family members, regardless of their immigration status. Studies have found that fear of detainment and deportation alone can contribute to depression, anxiety, and other negative mental health outcomes. If a family member is actually detained or deported, not only do these mental health issues worsen, but an individual’s physical health is also affected. Chronic conditions may worsen, birth outcomes can be affected, and families may delay or avoid accessing health care because of immigration-related fears, further compounding negative health outcomes.
For children in immigrant households, most of whom are U.S. citizens, the harms of immigration enforcement are particularly pronounced. Oklahoma has one of the nation’s highest rates of citizen children with a parent who has been detained. Being separated from a parent, either from detention or deportation, can create toxic stress that disrupts children’s development and can lead to long-term adverse mental, physical, and economic outcomes. Deportation of a loved one has been associated with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and suicidal thoughts among children. It also damages children’s educational outcomes, contributing to school absences and declines in academic performance.
Cooperating with ICE undermines community trust and local economies
The harmful effects of 287(g) agreements go beyond individuals and families directly targeted by immigration enforcement. These agreements also erode community trust and the overall economy. When local law enforcement agencies sign onto 287(g) agreements, immigrants may be less willing to report crimes they’ve witnessed because they fear that contact with law enforcement could lead to immigration enforcement.
These fears are not unfounded; in states like Florida, where state law requires local agencies to participate in 287(g) programs, police have detained people who called 911 to report thefts or who were involved in minor traffic accidents. When people are too afraid to report crimes, they are more likely to be victimized, and it can affect law enforcement’s ability to investigate crimes.
This fear of interacting with police can also discourage people from participating in public life more broadly, which harms local economies. Increased immigration enforcement has destabilized small businesses — particularly immigrant-owned businesses — by detaining business owners or workers and scaring away customers who fear being caught up in street arrests. On a broader scale, heightened immigration enforcement has harmed job prospects for U.S.-born workers and has weakened the labor market overall.
Expanding 287(g) agreements is a bad deal for Oklahoma
Years of research and reporting show that entering into more 287(g) agreements will cause irreparable harm to countless Oklahomans. These agreements create fear in our communities that leads to negative economic, health, and public safety outcomes. When local law enforcement carries out the duties of federal immigration officers, it drives a wedge between local police and the very people they are meant to serve.
Oklahoma residents should demand that their local leaders rescind or prohibit 287(g) agreements in their town. Local police should focus their time and resources on protecting all of Oklahoma’s communities and residents, regardless of immigration status.
