Weber County inks accord with feds to get reimbursed for immigration enforcement action

OGDEN — Weber County has become at least the second governmental entity in Utah to ink an accord with the feds to get reimbursed for certain expenses incurred in its efforts with federal authorities to combat illegal immigration.

The agreement approved last week by Weber County commissioners allows the Weber County Sheriff's Office to apply for reimbursement for hours worked by sheriff's officials on immigration-related matters, during a traffic stop involving an immigrant in the country illegally, for instance. Utah County commissioners approved a similar accord with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement last May.

"Let's say it's an hour or two. I can document that, and then I could add it to a list and then send it to ICE, and they'll reimburse it," said Weber County Sheriff Ryan Arbon. If an officer earned around $33 an hour and spent five hours on an immigration case, the reimbursement would be $33 multiplied by 5 hours, or $165.

According to Arbon, Weber County has been able to tap other mechanisms to get funding from federal officials stemming from the accord it inked with ICE last year to cooperate with the agency in detaining and deporting immigrants in the country illegally, known as a 287(g) agreement. He stressed, though, that the county's decision to enter into a 287(g) accord, like many law other law enforcement agencies around Utah and the rest of the country, isn't about money.

"For us to decide to do the 287(g) came before these things were offered," he said. The county has long partnered with immigration officials "and we haven't got any reimbursements or stipends before."

Weber County commissioners approved the 287(g) service agreement governing financial reimbursement from DHS and ICE as one of several "consent agenda" items at its Aug. 18 meeting, without discussion. The document is similar to the accord approved by Utah County commissioners at a lengthy May 14 meeting that drew pushback from critics.

Still, the funding offered by federal officials to local law enforcement agencies that cooperate with them has increasingly become a point of contention for advocates within the immigrant community. The Department of Homeland Security announced the new reimbursement initiatives that partner law enforcement agencies can tap last year, and they've been getting increased scrutiny by immigrant advocates.

"The financial incentive schemes are deeply concerning, particularly given the lack of transparency about how much money agencies are receiving or where those funds are going," said Molly Karasick, immigrant rights legal fellow for the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah. "This is another tool the Trump administration is using to advance its mass deportation agenda, and it comes at the expense of state and local law enforcement agencies — ultimately harming the communities they are supposed to serve."

'Increased risk of criminalization'

The Immigrant Legal Resource Center said in a critical report in June on 287(g) agreements that ICE has never before provided as much in financial incentives to partner law enforcement agencies. "Communities nationwide will be endangered if their local (law enforcement agencies) are tempted by these immensely lucrative offers to participate in immigration enforcement," it said.

According to the September 17, 2025, press release, the DHS said the new reimbursement options would include "quarterly monetary performance awards based on the successful location of illegal aliens." It didn't provide more specifics, and neither ICE nor DHS reps responded to a KSL query Monday seeking comment.

That sort of language, though, is of concern for some.

In a February report, FWD.us, which dubs itself a social welfare organization, said the new funding streams could result in distribution of $1.4 billion to $2 billion to local and state law enforcement agencies this year. That would bolster the ranks of law enforcement officers with immigration enforcement authority and put "communities throughout the country at increased risk of criminalization and incarceration," the group said.

Arbon, for his part, was unfamiliar with any sort of initiative linking immigrant detentions with funding incentives.

While Weber and Utah counties may have accords allowing them to tap into federal funding per the new 287(g) incentive initiative, they and other counties have already been able to tap into other funding streams stemming from their cooperative agreements with ICE. Eleven Utah sheriff's offices, two police departments and the Utah Department of Corrections have cooperative agreements with ICE.

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A March report by journalist Ken Klippenstein found that four law enforcement agencies in Utah with 287(g) agreements had been paid or promised $595,000 in federal funds between them stemming from their cooperative efforts. The agencies and the dollar amounts were the Riverton Police Department, $122,500; the Utah County Sheriff's Office, $160,000; the Washington County Sheriff's Office, $197,500; and the Weber County Sheriff's Office, $115,000.

Arbon confirmed the $115,000 figure for Weber County, $100,000 of it earmarked for a new vehicle and the other $15,000 meant for equipment. Officials from the Riverton Police Department and Utah County Sheriff's Office requested that KSL submit a public records request on the matter, and Washington County Sheriff's Office officials didn't respond to a query seeking comment.

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