In February, FWD.us released a brief highlighting the dangers of the 287(g) program, and specifically the Task Force Model, which allows police and sheriff’s deputies to enforce civil immigration law on the streets, and is incentivized by a massive infusion of funding from the federal government.
On March 24, independent journalist Ken Klippenstein released a leaked ledger from inside ICE showing that ICE is sending money to agencies across the country — including in some cases massive incentive payments far larger than promised in the public literature. This ledger reveals that $257 million has already been paid or promised to 282 law enforcement agencies across the country.
Source: FWD.us Analysis of ICE Payouts Ledger
Just under 30% of agencies that have signed Task Force Model (TFM) agreements appear on the leaked payout ledger, although this varies greatly by state. In Wyoming, where five agencies signed up, all five agencies are already receiving funding, totalling $819,000. In Florida, where 271 total agencies have signed agreements, 29% have received funding — but that funding nevertheless amounts to just under $150 million so far.
Task Force Model Agreements and Payments, by State
This ledger confirms the basic structure of the program: agencies sign up a certain number of sworn officers (on average, around 36% of their force) and are paid a startup fund of $100,000 plus $7,500 per officer signed up. For at least four agencies, the amount they received in this first payment was more than their total annual budget.
After that point, the amount and type of payment handed out gets considerably murkier. Just over a third of agencies (100 out of 282) have received a payment covering some officer salary and benefits, with nearly all of those payments coming in February or March of 2026. One quarter (71 out of 282 agencies) have received or been promised an incentive payment, with a median recorded incentive payment of $210,000 per agency. In program descriptions, ICE promised monetary rewards of up to $1,000 per quarter per officer. Actual incentive payments to these agencies recorded in the ledger total over $40,000 per officer.
In February FWD.us estimated that based on the number of agencies signed up and the promised funding from ICE, total funding could equal $1.4 to $2 billion per year. With these larger incentive payments and many more agencies signing up, the total could grow even higher.
The full leaked ledger is shared here for search or download.
