Today, Rep. Ben Cline (VA-06) introduced the 287(g) Cooperation Act of 2026, legislation to strengthen federal-local immigration enforcement partnerships by requiring state and local law enforcement agencies to enter into a 287(g) memorandum of agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as a condition of receiving Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grants.
Require state and local law enforcement agencies to enter into a 287(g) memorandum of agreement with ICE as a condition of receiving COPS grants.
Occurrences
introduced the 287(g) Cooperation Act of 2026, legislation to strengthen federal-local immigration enforcement partnerships by requiring state and local law enforcement agencies to enter into a 287(g) memorandum of agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as a condition of receiving Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grants.
Evidence
The law increases funding for the Office of Community Oriented Policing for initiatives tied to immigration enforcement and removal efforts, and makes eligibility contingent on compliance with 8 U.S.C. 1373.
The same law also directs DHS resources toward carrying out immigration enforcement activities under sections 103(a) and 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and toward expanding 287(g) agreements.
Assessments
The closest enacted federal action did not impose the specific promised rule that state and local agencies must sign a 287(g) memorandum of agreement with ICE to receive COPS grants. Instead, the enacted law conditioned COPS eligibility on compliance with 8 U.S.C. 1373 and separately funded or encouraged expanded 287(g) activity. That is materially related to the promise, but it falls short of the exact grant condition Ben Cline called for, and there is no evidence here that he secured the specific requirement. This supports partial rather than full delivery.