The bill targets 17 states with sanctuary cities that haven’t entered into agreements with federal immigration enforcement

By Alex Miller, Fox News

FIRST ON FOX: Two Senate Republicans want blue states and sanctuary cities to sign agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and are dangling federal funding to get them on board.

Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., who is leading the charge, plan to introduce legislation that would incentivize states and local governments to sign cooperation agreements with ICE. They also plan to beef up federal grants as a sweetener to blue states and sanctuary cities that aren’t part of the program.

Graham said in a statement to Fox News Digital, “While sanctuary states and cities obstruct ICE, this legislation rewards law enforcement agencies who work with the federal government to keep our communities safe.”

“No more excuses. When it comes to combating 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. “Our bill expands that opportunity.”

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Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., want to incentivize blue states and cities to cooperate with ICE by dangling beefed-up federal grants in exchange for signing agreements with the federal agency.(Anwar Amro/AFP via Getty Images; Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

The duo’s 287(g) Expansion Act is a two-pronged effort. On its surface, the legislation is designed to lock in ICE agreements with local law enforcement agencies across all 50 states in exchange for boosted grant funding that would support personnel, equipment, supplies and training, among other perks for local police.

But it’s also the latest in a string of efforts to dissolve sanctuary city jurisdictions across the country by rewarding states and local governments that work with ICE.

The 287(g) program was first established in the late 1990s and allows local governments to enter into agreements with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that effectively delegate some ICE authorities.

Those authorities include identifying and processing removable aliens with criminal or pending criminal charges, training police to serve and execute administrative warrants on illegal immigrants in their agency’s jail, and building local task forces with limited ICE powers.

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ICE agents depart the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building on Feb. 4, 2026, in Minneapolis.(John Moore/Getty Images)

Graham and Blackburn argue that locales that don’t sign on — and, more specifically, the 17 states that have sanctuary cities that haven’t entered into an agreement — undermine federal immigration enforcement efforts.

“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.

So far, 39 states have at least one local government or jurisdiction with an agreement with federal immigration enforcement in place.

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That’s where the sweetener in Graham and Blackburn’s bill comes in.

Jurisdictions that enter into 287(g) agreements would get a funding boost through the Byrne Memorial JAG program, which already acts as the primary federal funding stream for state and local law enforcement.

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The bill would set aside $20 million a year through 2033 to help boost federal grants, and Graham and Blackburn are eyeing the forthcoming budget reconciliation process as the ideal vehicle to get the legislation passed.

Republicans are embarking on that partisan journey as the DHS shutdown continues, which was spurred 74 days ago when Democrats refused to fund the agency without stringent reforms to immigration operations in the country.

Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.