ICE Memo Bars Local Police from Disclosing Immigration Enforcement Details Without Federal Approval

A confidential memo from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been issued to local law enforcement partners, instructing them to refrain from disclosing details about their role in immigration enforcement without prior approval from ICE. The directive has sparked concerns about the growing entanglement between federal and local law enforcement agencies and the transparency of public records during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

According to anonymous federal sources, the memo was emailed to hundreds of local agencies in Texas and Florida between April 19 and May 5. These agencies participate in the 287(g) program, which allows local officers to conduct certain immigration enforcement operations.

The memo explicitly instructs participating agencies to:

• Contact ICE before responding to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for public records.
• Consult ICE in situations where information sharing might otherwise occur, including press conferences, press releases, media ride-alongs, and social media postings.

The directive states that because "information obtained or developed" by local law enforcement through participation in the 287(g) program is "under the control of ICE," documents cannot be released without prior federal approval. This policy could potentially extend to operations that only tangentially involve immigration enforcement and may conflict with federal and state laws designed to ensure transparency in law enforcement.

Local agencies, which may otherwise seek to build public trust by openly communicating about their operations, are now required to first assess ICE compliance and obtain federal approval before sharing information. This development is particularly concerning given the increasing entanglement between ICE and local law enforcement agencies over the past year.

While the Florida Tribune confirmed that the memo was sent to agencies in Texas and Florida, these states represent only a fraction of the 287(g) program agreements nationwide. The number of participating agencies has surged from 135 in January 2025 to over 1,700 in May 2026.

Reason reached out to ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for confirmation or denial of the memo’s existence and to inquire about concerns that the policy could undermine freedom of information laws. A DHS spokesperson responded that "coordination is required when…releasing sensitive 287(g)-related information…We are not going to disclose law enforcement sensitive intelligence."

However, the spokesperson did not clearly define what qualifies as "sensitive intelligence," which may even include the memo itself. Multiple law enforcement agencies across South Florida confirmed receiving the memo but refused to provide it to reporters pending ICE clearance.

"This is as unconstitutional as it gets, and the bottleneck of information and lack of transparency only allow these unconstitutional acts to proliferate."

Katie Blankenship, an immigration attorney, told the Florida Tribune that the memo violates her clients' due process rights.