DARTMOUTH — The Bristol County Sheriff’s Office will not participate in federal immigration enforcement or enter into agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Sheriff Paul Heroux announced in a policy statement released Wednesday.
In the release, Heroux said he updated the office’s information-sharing and cooperation policy in November 2025 and outlined several reasons why the department will not expand its involvement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
He noted that, under current law, local sheriffs do not have authority to enforce federal immigration statutes on their own unless they enter a specific federal partnership known as a 287(g) agreement. Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act authorizes the Department of Homeland Security to deputize selected state and local law enforcement officers to carry out certain federal immigration enforcement functions under the supervision of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), including determining immigration status and initiating removal proceedings, but only after the agency and local jurisdiction sign a formal memorandum of agreement and officers receive federal training…