US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is planning to subsidize liability insurance for local police officers performing federal immigration enforcement work. A planning document released Friday reveals the proposal, which the Associated Press first reported and The Independent covered. It surfaces a coverage problem already forcing some agencies to find policies outside their standard municipal risk arrangements.
Under the plan, officers in ICE's 287(g) program would purchase professional liability insurance covering up to $500,000, typically funding legal fees, settlements, and judgments. Officers would be reimbursed up to $250 annually, roughly the expected policy cost, according to the AP. ICE has asked for industry feedback by Thursday, but has not disclosed a program timeline, total cost, or any comment on the plan.
The 287(g) program, established under a 1996 federal immigration law, authorizes ICE to train and deputize local officers for immigration enforcement. Nearly 1,600 agencies in 32 states now participate in the task force model based on ICE data. Arrests averaged 3,000 per month in early 2026, against 250 per month in 2024, per ICE data provided to the UC Berkeley Deportation Data Project.
The insurance question is not hypothetical. Municipal and state risk pools, which typically cover law enforcement liability for routine police work, are beginning to exclude immigration enforcement activities from their policies.
Pennsylvania's risk pool recently made clear it would exclude "proactive immigration enforcement activities" from coverage, the AP reported. Several Pennsylvania counties participating in 287(g) have since had to find alternative coverage. Butler County Sheriff Michael Slupe told the AP he found insurance for 13 deputies at $20,000 in annual premiums.
As local officers take on federal enforcement functions, claims for excessive force, wrongful arrest, and illegal search may fall outside policies written for standard policing. Federal officers generally carry legal immunities and a government-funded defense that do not automatically transfer to local deputies. Professional liability coverage, when in place, can also extend to criminal investigations, not only civil claims.
Justin Smith, executive director of the National Sheriffs' Association and a former Colorado sheriff, told the AP the proposal sounds promising. He said some sheriffs have avoided the partnerships over liability concerns. Agencies already participating have begun facing legal claims tied to immigration work, he added.
"Right now, any time you are working on immigration there is going to be a much higher potential for there being problems and having suits and issues," Smith said.
Under 287(g) agreements, ICE warns local departments they are responsible for liability costs. The agency argues local officers acting under ICE authority are "acting under color of federal authority," which it says would bar suits against individual officers. Officers facing civil suits can request DOJ representation, though the final decision rests with DOJ.
The Pennsylvania exclusion is the immediate signal for public entity brokers: if one risk pool has acted, others may follow. An agency participating in 287(g) work that has not reviewed its law enforcement liability policy for activity-specific exclusions faces a potential gap. The ICE insurance proposal adds a specific coverage question to a public entity liability segment where carriers already apply tight underwriting to law enforcement exposures.
