South Dakota agencies seek out ICE authority under 287(g)
The Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) and Highway Patrol applied for a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) program called 287(g), which trains and certifies certain officers with specified immigration duties, with limitations and oversight depending on the agreement's terms.
The two agencies both applied under the Task Force Model (TFM), where officers incorporate immigration authority in their day-to-day duties.
Back in April, two South Dakota sheriff's offices joined 287(g) as warrant service officers (WSOs), who can identify criminal immigrants and immigration violators who are already in custody. As of May 22, these are the only two confirmed participating agencies from South Dakota under 287(g).
If the DCI and Highway Patrol's applications are approved, then four total state law enforcement agencies will perform immigration authority tasks for ICE under 287(g).
ICE activity increased in South Dakota, after agents arrested eight people in Madison at Manitou Equipment and Global Polymer Industries in May.
Under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), section 287(g), ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) partner with law enforcement agencies under a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for specified immigration authority.
Only law enforcement agencies can apply for ICE's 287(g) program.
According to ICE, 287(g) operates under three main program models:
Warrant Service Officer (WSO): ICE trains and certifies certain law enforcement officers only within the agency's jail to serve and execute administrative or civil immigration warrants on removable immigrants.
Jail Enforcement Model (JEM): allows officers inside a jail to identify, interrogate, and determine immigration status of individuals, (who possess convicted criminal or pending criminal charges and been arrested by state or local law enforcement agencies), and aid in potential immigration proceedings.
Task Force Model (TFM): a 'force multiplier,' intended for law enforcement officers on the field or on routine police duties to enforce limited immigration authority, with ICE oversight.
While applying for the program, letters of intent and an MOA must be submitted to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for consideration.
According to ICE, letters of intent must specify which model program will be used, the current relationship between the law enforcement agency and ICE, the law enforcement agency's location, and the number of deputies that will receive training.
Once an agency signs an MOA for the 287(g) program, ICE will train law enforcement in immigration law, multicultural communication, and methods to avoid racial profiling.
According to ICE's website, several states have passed or are considering state legislation mandating law enforcement agencies to apply for MOAs under 287(g).
On Wednesday South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley announced that DCI agents will train as task force officers under 287(g).
Two DCI officers- one from East river and one from West river- will train as task force officers under TFM, according to Jackley. As a task force officer under 287(g), the two agents will be granted immigration law enforcement as a part of their day-to-day duties.
'It's a force multiplier, it saves the taxpayers, arrives at the right solution- because it gets violent criminals and drug dealers- that are not legally- here out of our state,' Jackley said in a Friday interview with KELOLAND News.
Jackley said he thinks the community will respond positively to the partnership because this federal authority will only apply to violent immigrant criminals and drug dealers.
'Nobody wants them in our community,' Jackley said. 'They're not here legally.'
Jackley said TFM will speed up the process for state and federal authorities to directly move forward with deportations.
'Nobody wants to see a victim go through more process than the victim has to, or use of taxpayer dollars that's either duplicative or not effective,' Jackley said.
Jackley said he hopes to train more officers in the future, with just under 70 agents working for the DCI.
'It's going to take a little time,' Jackley said. 'I want to get established where we have at least components in East river and West river have that leadership in place, and then as the need comes about, we will train additional agents.'
According to Jackley's office, a Task Force Program will be headquartered in Pierre.
Jackley announced the partnership between the DCI and ICE after touring the Southern border on May 21.
Jackley told KELOLAND News that the next step is for ICE to train the DCI officers to perform under TFM. Jackley said the training requires 40 hours and will be virtual.
On May 21, Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden wrote a letter of intent to ICE for Highway Patrol to participate in TFM under 287(g).
Rhoden said he's proud of the current work by ICE 'to keep Americans safe and remove illegal alien criminals,' according to the letter of intent, and the Highway Patrol partnership will 'serve and meet the needs of South Dakota, help remove dangerous criminals, and keep drugs out of our communities.'
In the letter, Rhoden said five state patrol officers will serve as task force officers. Under 287(g), task force officers enforce immigration authority during their daily duties.
Highway patrol duties include traffic law enforcement- like traffic stops- drug interdiction, and more, according to the South Dakota Department of Public Safety website.
Rhoden wrote the letter of intent the same day he visited South Dakota National Guard soldiers at the Southern Border.
The next step is for Highway Patrol to sign an MOA under the TFM, and submit the letter of intent and MOA to DHS.
KELOLAND News reached out to Highway Patrol for a response, but the agency said they were unable to speak this week.
As of March, the Hughes and Minnehaha County Sheriff's Offices participates in the 287(g) program as WSOs.
'Recently, with the changes that the federal government has made with the uptake in detentions that we're doing, we just want to be good partners with ICE and our federal agency partners and make sure that we're getting the training that we need to be effective in what they're asking us to do,' Captain Adam Zishka with the Minnehaha County Sheriff's Office said to KELOLAND News in April.
As of May 23, Zishka said no officers have been trained yet, and the county continues to wait for details on how many jail officers will receive the Warrant Service Officer training.
Patrick Callahan, sheriff for the Hughes County Sheriff's Office, told KELOLAND News that they haven't received training either, as of May 23.
'My intent is to take the training myself and act as the Warrant Service Office at the Hughes County Jail,' Patrick Callahan, sheriff for the Hughes County Sheriff's Office, said in a statement to KELOLAND News in April. 'HCJ is one of the largest jails in South Dakota and holds inmates from across Central South Dakota.'
To learn more about the sheriff's offices involvement, read the full article here.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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