County Fight Contested

Tarrant County TX — Commissioners expand ICE partnership under SB8 mandate despite 98% public opposition

Tarrant County, TX FIPS 48439

Current status: Commissioners voted 3-2 on Feb 12, 2026 to accept a $140K state grant expanding the sheriff's ICE partnership beyond jail-only screening, over near-unanimous public comment opposition and a public survey showing 98% opposed (2,541 of 2,676 respondents); protesters removed from the meeting

The Fight

Tarrant County (FIPS 48439, Fort Worth/Dallas-Fort Worth metro, heatmap score 78) already had a 287(g) Jail Enforcement Model (JEM) agreement between the Sheriff’s Office and ICE, in place since the Sheriff’s Office opted in in 2017 and signed the current JEM agreement June 16, 2020 (pre-existing KB entry: 287-g-jem-tarrant-county-sheriff-s-office-tx). In 2026, Texas Senate Bill 8 forced the issue statewide: effective Jan. 1, 2026, SB8 requires every Texas sheriff who operates a county jail to request a 287(g) agreement with ICE, with a December 2026 deadline and Attorney General enforcement authority against holdouts (KERA News, Dec 29, 2025).

Against that backdrop, Tarrant County commissioners considered applying for Texas’s new Sheriff Immigration Law Enforcement Grant Program, administered by the Texas Comptroller’s office (launched by Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock, announced Jan 15, 2026). The grant — $140,000 over a two-year period — reimburses payroll and administrative costs for deputies assisting ICE (reported rate: $64.64/hour), and would expand the sheriff’s federal partnership beyond the existing jail-based screening model toward broader task-force/warrant-service participation under SB8’s framework.

Vote: On February 12, 2026, Tarrant County commissioners voted 3-2 to approve applying for and accepting the grant. County Judge Tim O’Hare backed the measure. The meeting was contentious — protesters were escorted out, and more than a dozen public commenters signed up, all in opposition.

Public opposition: A county-run public survey drew 2,676 responses; 2,541 (98%) opposed the ICE partnership expansion, with only 135 in support. Speakers at the Feb 11-12 commission meetings raised concerns about eroding community trust in local law enforcement and the constitutionality of SB8’s mandate itself.

Aftermath: By April 2026, Sheriff Bill Waybourn was publicly defending the arrangement, telling local press “the 287(g) jail program is going well” and that local law enforcement authority was key to enforcing federal immigration orders (Fort Worth Report / KERA News, Apr 11-12, 2026). As of that reporting, the county jail held ICE detainers on roughly 388-400 people from 25 countries.

Key Details

Feb 10, 2026 — Fort Worth Report reports Tarrant County is seeking the state grant to support ICE partnership expansion.
Feb 11-12, 2026 — Commission meeting draws heated public comment; multiple people removed. Vote held Feb 12, 2026: 3-2 in favor.
Grant: $140,000 from the Texas Sheriff Immigration Law Enforcement Grant Program (Comptroller’s office), reimbursing payroll/admin costs at a reported $64.64/hour rate for deputies assisting ICE.
Legal driver: Texas SB8 (effective Jan 1, 2026) mandates all Texas county-jail sheriffs seek a 287(g) agreement by December 2026; AG can sue non-compliant departments.
Existing baseline: Tarrant Co. Sheriff’s Office 287(g) JEM since 2017 (signed 2020); Keller PD signed a separate WSO-model 287(g) agreement Aug 28, 2025 (pre-existing KB entries).
April 2026: Sheriff Waybourn publicly reaffirms the program; jail holds ~388-400 ICE detainers from 25 countries.

Why This Matters

This is a state-mandate-driven expansion pattern distinct from the Sabot-style county-recruitment playbook tracked elsewhere in this KB — SB8 removes local discretion entirely, forcing even a large, already-cooperative metro sheriff’s office (Tarrant is the 3rd-largest county in Texas) into an expanded ICE role regardless of local political appetite, which the 98%-opposed survey result and commission-meeting removals make unusually stark. It also shows the state grant-subsidy mechanism (Comptroller-administered, payroll-reimbursement) as a new lever for expanding 287(g) participation beyond the jail-only model toward broader task-force/warrant-service cooperation.

Sources

This research is published at The RAMM — investigative reporting on the detention pipeline.

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