Local law enforcement agencies across Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia are making more arrests for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement than ever before, according to new analysis of federal immigration data by the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting.

In Kentucky, local law enforcement accounted for 18 percent of monthly ICE arrests across the state in June, a record high under President Donald Trump. In Tennessee, state and local agencies made up 30 percent of reported ICE arrests in May, also a record high.

The surge is largely driven by the federal 287(g) program, which deputizes local police and sheriffs as immigration agents. More agencies across the three-state region signed 287(g) agreements in the first nine months of this year than in all of 2025, according to ICE data reviewed by the center.

In Kentucky, 55 local law enforcement agencies now participate in 287(g) agreements, up from 30 in February. Nationwide, ICE arrested about 49,000 people in July, a new high.

Lexington itself has not signed a 287(g) agreement, but neighboring Scott and Clark counties have. Louisville sparked controversy when Mayor Craig Greenberg ordered local jail officials to honor ICE detainer requests, a policy reversal that removed the city from the federal government's sanctuary jurisdiction list.

Across the region, local jails hold hundreds of immigrants for ICE each month. In Kentucky, ICE increased requests to prisons and jails under Trump, hitting a monthly high of 373 in July. The five jails receiving the most requests were in Louisville Metro and Fayette, Kenton, Boone and Warren counties.

Some county jails have profited substantially from holding immigrants for federal authorities. Four Kentucky county jails earned $2 million or more by holding people for ICE during Trump's second term, as of April 2026.

Despite financial incentives, Republican efforts to mandate local participation have stalled. The Republican-controlled Kentucky legislature did not pass a proposal to force state and local law enforcement to join the 287(g) program.

The expansion raises concerns about civil rights protections. Federal data show that 5 percent or less of people arrested monthly for ICE have violent crime convictions. Amada Armenta, director of the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute, noted that professional standards immigration enforcement agents once operated under have eroded, saying the current culture celebrates cruelty "in a way that's not only unprofessional, but I think, like, we haven't seen it in modern history."