The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office participated in an immigration enforcement operation last Friday where more than a dozen people were arrested. It participated due to an agreement with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement signed by the office last summer.
It’s called a 287(g) agreement, which grants BCSO the power to enforce federal immigration law. Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner signed the agreement on July 29, 2025 despite pushback at community meetings.
What is 287(g)?
BCSO’s 287(g) agreement permits officers to be trained to perform some duties that an ICE officer would perform. Officers nominated by BCSO receive training from ICE and must “pass examinations equivalent to those given to ICE officers,” according to the 287(g) agreement. Only these officers can perform immigration enforcement.
The 287(g) agreement allows officers to perform these functions:
- Interrogate and process undocumented immigrants
- Arrest anyone entering the U.S. illegally or any undocumented immigrant who the officer believes “is in the United States in violation of law and is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained.”
- Arrest undocumented immigrants for immigration felonies
- Enforce immigration warrants
- Administer oaths and take evidence in immigration cases
- Prepare charging documents in immigration cases
- Issue Immigration detainers
- Take custody of undocumented immigrants on behalf of ICE
- Transport of undocumented immigrants to ICE detention facilities
According to the 287(g) agreement, ICE officers direct and supervise immigration enforcement actions performed by BCSO. BCSO is not compensated by ICE for costs associated with immigration enforcement work. The agreement is valid until one of the parties withdraws from it…