At a press conference in March, Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia, flanked by American flags, had a collection of large checks to give out. The money was part of a pool of $250 million from the state, and one by one, four sheriffs posed with oversized novelty checks.
"Let's start giving the money away," Ingoglia told the room. "I am proud to give out these checks to these sheriffs standing in front of me for all the hard work that they've been doing, keeping our communities safe and helping to deport criminal illegal aliens."
The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office got around $100,000; the Escambia County Sheriff's Office: nearly $1 million; the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office: more than $280,000; and the Franklin County Sheriff's Office: nearly $50,000.
The counties received the money after joining a federal program called 287(g), which gives local police the authority to arrest undocumented immigrants, normally the work of federal immigration officers. And the sheriffs were celebratory: They're getting a lot of money for cooperating, from both the state and federal government.
How much money ICE has promised local police
Nationwide, the Department of Homeland Security is promising $100,000 for new vehicles and potentially tens of thousands more in equipment to law enforcement agencies who sign on.
It also says it will reimburse the salaries and benefits of officers in the program – and touts the potential for bonuses based on an officer's success in finding undocumented people, similar to a bounty hunter system.
A recent report from FWD.us, an organization advocating for criminal justice and immigration reform, estimated that if every police agency receives what DHS promised, the total could amount to as much as $2 billion in 2026 alone.
The 287(g) program has existed for decades. But Naureen Shah, director of government affairs for immigration at the ACLU, says the money is unprecedented.
"We've never seen this financial incentive scheme exist in any way with this program, and Congress never intended for ICE to be swooping in to these local jurisdictions and offering them money in exchange to participate," Shah says. "Police departments that are strapped for cash, this could be a lifeline for them that appears to be pretty easy."
On the agency's website, ICE refers to the program as a force multiplier, and by its own description, the Trump administration has "supercharged" it. When Trump began his second term, there were 135 of these partnerships. Now, there are more than 1,700.
At his confirmation hearing in March, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin signaled he wants to see an even greater shift to working closely with local police, after the agency's violent approach in cities like Minneapolis left two U.S. citizens dead. Polls showed most Americans thought the administration had gone too far.
What we know about where the money is going
Like Florida, Texas began offering its own grants this year. The two states have the most agreements in the country. Both have required all sheriffs operating jails to join 287(g), and together they've awarded tens of millions of dollars so far to local departments.
In Florida, state records show local police reported their plans to use the money for equipment like body armor and license plate readers.
In a statement, DHS called these partnerships "critical to having the resources" needed to carry out its immigration agenda, but declined to give NPR specifics on how much money it has awarded.
There are snapshots into where some of the money went. ICE announced in September, for instance, that it gave police agencies in Florida nearly $40 million for vehicles and equipment.
Felicity Rose, vice president of criminal justice research and policy at FWD.us, noted the money from this program could end up dwarfing the size of the two largest federal grant programs awarded to local police, COPS and JAG-Byrne funds.
"The normal government process in the United States is that we know where taxpayer money goes, because it's really important that it not be wasted," Rose says. "It's very, very concerning that there's so little transparency in this money."
What law enforcement says about the money
NPR reached out to dozens of police and sheriff's departments to gain a deeper understanding of their participation in the 287(g) program and what money they've received. Most did not respond. Two sheriffs directed questions about federal payments back to ICE.
But law enforcement leaders at six agencies did provide records of payments or gave interviews.
In Texas, the Smith County Sheriff's Office received more than $340,000 from DHS for new equipment and a Chevy Silverado, according to records the department sent.
Robert Bage, police chief for Fort Walton Beach in the Florida panhandle, says his department received about $150,000 from ICE for a new vehicle and equipment. The state has approved nearly $300,000 for officer bonuses and an AI software platform.
"In Florida, we're required to cooperate with immigration officials. So if we can leverage our cooperation and get a greater benefit out of it, we are going to take the greater benefit from leveraging our cooperation," Bage says.
The Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office in Florida was awarded nearly half a million dollars collectively from the state and federal government. Chief Deputy Randy Tifft told NPR the funds will go toward a new vehicle and equipment, including a fingerprint scanner and Apple AirPods that translate Spanish in real time.
"It would be very difficult for us to do what we do without getting reimbursed," Tifft says.
In Marion County, Fla., Sheriff Billy Woods says if he wasn't using federal money, he would have to use local taxpayer money to participate in the program.
"The federal government has funding for that. So what they're doing, in essence, is fiscally responsible," Woods says.
Bage, the Fort Walton Beach police chief, says his officers in the program are not going out of their way to look for undocumented people.
"A lot of them are on traffic stops," Bage says. "The 287g program now allows us to immediately take that person into custody and transfer them to the county jail where they get picked up by immigration."
But immigrant advocates say the traffic stop itself is worrisome. The ACLU has documented cases it describes as "dragnet" immigration enforcement in some cities and counties with federal agreements.
There's evidence of that in the past as well. Part of the 287(g) program had been discontinued in 2012, after the Justice Department found some participating police agencies had engaged in what appeared to be racial profiling.
Now that President Trump has brought it back, immigrant advocates say adding money to the equation will increase the risk of those tactics being used.
Jaclyn Diaz contributed reporting.
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