Marsha Blackburn

One week after Tennessee lawmakers passed a bill to punish local law enforcement that do not help with a voluntary federal immigration enforcement program, U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn is proposing new financial incentives for states and counties who help ICE.

Blackburn on April 28 filed the 287(g) Expansion Act, which would offer a 10% increase in federal funding from the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Grant Program — the primary federal funding stream for local law enforcement — for states and counties that agree to participate in the program.

Blackburn’s policy is similar to one Tennessee passed last year that offered financial incentives to counties who agreed to work with U.S. Immigration and Customs enforcement. So far, just over half — 49 of the 95 — of Tennessee’s counties have agreements with ICE.

As of this month, 39 states have at least one agency participating in the 287(g) program. Seventeen have adopted statewide sanctuary policies, which typically restrict local police from honoring federal detainer requests or asking about immigration status.

Blackburn, who filed the bill with South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, said the bill is aimed at “strengthen[ing] immigration enforcement nationwide.”

“State and local law enforcement should be doing everything in their power to partner with the federal government to enforce the rule of law in our communities following the Biden Border Crisis,” Blackburn said.

Blackburn’s proposal comes one week after state lawmakers passed a bill to allow Tennessee to withhold funding from county sheriffs who choose not to participate in the optional federal program.

Tennessee Republican leaders crafted a package of bills with input from White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller designed to require immigrants to prove their legal immigration status in order to access nearly all types of public services and employment.

A news release from Blackburn’s office contrasted sanctuary states with those that participate in 287(g), saying they “undermine the success” of the program.

The Trump Justice Department has aggressively sued counties and states with sanctuary policies, saying they “impede law enforcement and put American citizens at risk by design.”

“No more excuses! When it comes to combatting illegal immigration, local law enforcement has the legal authority and, if they choose, the means to go after criminal illegals in their communities,” Graham said. “While sanctuary states and cities obstruct ICE, this legislation rewards law enforcement who work with the federal government to keep our communities safe.”

Last year, Blackburn reintroduced two bills aimed at reinstating the “Remain in Mexico” policy and allowing local law enforcement to help with deportations.

Her Clear Law Enforcement for Criminal Alien Removal Act, first filed in 2024, would withhold certain federal funds from states that bar state law enforcement from working with federal immigration officials. It would also require states and local governments to report names, addresses and physical descriptions of immigrants arrested to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and to Congress.

Blackburn’s Make the Migrant Protection Protocols Mandatory Act, first filed in 2023, would reinstate the “Remain in Mexico” program established during the first Trump administration, sending migrants arrested at the border to Mexico to await a court hearing.

Neither bill has yet been heard in committee.