A security officer stands outside Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters during a protest on Feb. 3, 2026 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Heather Diehl/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA — A bill requiring law enforcement in South Carolina to assist federal immigration agents stoked fear among opponents that it could invite them to the state or break trust with police.
A House panel did not vote Tuesday on the bill, which would require every law enforcement agency in the state that operates a jail to sign an agreement with U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement under its 287(g) program, named for the section of a 1996 federal law that authorized it. They have three options.
Two of the agreements — the warrant service officer and jail enforcement models — involve identifying undocumented immigrants already in jail for another offense. The third, known as the task force model, allows police officers to question a person’s immigration status during any police stop, whether or not a person is arrested for another crime.
SC House GOP seeks to mandate ICE partnership agreements at jails statewide
The bill would not bring federal ICE or Border Patrol agents to South Carolina, said Rep. Travis Moore, who sponsored the bill and leads the subcommittee. Nor is it related to the office ICE is leasing on Main Street in Columbia, where immigration attorneys will work.
“I understand there’s a lot of concern about incidents with ICE in other states,” Moore, a Roebuck Republican, told reporters. “We’ve not seen those concerns in South Carolina, thankfully, and there’s no reason to believe that this bill would lead to those types of incidents.”
Every one of two dozen people who spoke during a two-hour meeting Tuesday opposed the bill. Fear and outrage dominated the public response to the bill, as speakers brought up the two U.S. citizens federal agents fatally shot in Minnesota last month.
“I am fearful,” said Wanda Breedlove, who runs an event venue in Columbia. “As a resident, I am fearful.”
Moore pre-filed his bill in December, weeks before the deaths of Renée Good and Alex Pretti sparked outrage nationwide about federal immigration enforcement, followed by rebukes from politicians who claimed the agents acted in self-defense. Republicans have also blamed so-called sanctuary policies in blue states that prevent local law enforcement from cooperating with ICE.
Moore’s goal was to identify and inform federal agents of undocumented immigrants who have committed other crimes, he said.
“I don’t think it’s unreasonable, for someone who’s been arrested for violating the laws of the state, for us to ask our local law enforcement officers to check and see if that person has other warrants, federal warrants in immigration court, before they release them back into society,” Moore said.
The work is already happening, he said. He wants to standardize the practice across the state.
Richland County’s jail would be the only one exempt from the bill because the county administrator, not the sheriff, oversees it.
Already, 35 city and county law enforcement agencies in South Carolina, as well as two state agencies, have signed agreements with ICE. Although the program has existed for decades, usage surged in the state and nationally amid the Trump administration’s emphasis on immigration enforcement. Only Horry and York counties reported using the agreements during 2025, according to reports compiled by ICE.
In Moore’s hometown of Spartanburg County, the sheriff reported that the program is working well and doesn’t require much additional cost or manpower, Moore said.
After hearing Tuesday that may not be the case statewide, he’s taking a closer look at the bill for potential costs to law enforcement.
Departments can get reimbursements for salaries and benefits if they hire additional officers to enforce agreements, as well as quarterly bonuses based on how many undocumented immigrants they find each month.
The bill may not seem to have a cost upfront, but it could put more people in jail, which means more work and resources to monitor and care for them, as well as more lawsuits and potentially overtime for officers, said Courtney Thomas, director of advocacy for the state American Civil Liberties Union.
“It’s important that our local agencies not be fooled” by the bonuses, Thomas said.
Even though the bill doesn’t bring federal agents to South Carolina, the increased enforcement could rupture the hard-won trust between people and the police officers that serve them, speakers said. People afraid of deportation may be more hesitant to tell officers about crimes or leave the house, for fear of an officer pulling them over.
“Our immigrant communities are an important fabric that makes South Carolina a special place,” said Julie Zimmerman of Irmo. “To see them terrorized by their own neighbors and local law enforcement would be heartbreaking.”
Moore also plans to revisit whether all three program types should be in the bill’s required options.
“There’s got to be a balance with public safety and maintaining those relationships,” Moore said.
Courtesy of South Carolina Daily Gazette
