GOP lawmakers have filed at least five bills aimed at tearing down sanctuary policies, requiring cooperation with and participation in federal immigration enforcement.
The legislation comes amid protests across the country over the Trump administration's immigration enforcement tactics following the death of 37-year-old Renee Macklin Good in Minneapolis, who was shot and killed by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer last week.
At least four bills seek to encourage or require law enforcement agencies in Kentucky to assist ICE in their efforts to carry out mass deportations across the country. A fifth bill would make it a crime to seek out or do work while undocumented.
Louisville has already capitulated to some Trump administration demands after learning the U.S. Department of Justice intended to sue and cut off funding. In July 2025, Mayor Craig Greenberg said the city would return to an earlier policy of holding people in jail for an extra 48 hours if the federal government asks for an immigration hold.
As of a DOJ release last year, no Kentucky city or county is listed as a “sanctuary jurisdiction.” But that hasn’t stopped state Republican lawmakers from targeting specific policies they have determined to be “sanctuary policies.”
Enforcing immigration law is the federal government’s responsibility, but several GOP legislators want to require Kentucky law enforcement to get involved too, through the 287(g) program that lets ICE delegate certain authority to officers at the state and local levels. Twenty-two county or municipal law enforcement agencies in Kentucky already have such agreements, according to ICE data.
It’s not clear which, if any, of the filed bills will find purchase in the Republican-controlled General Assembly. GOP House Speaker David Osborne told reporters Wednesday that the caucus has discussed various measures and acknowledged that the focus on immigration is a reflection of national issues.
“There hasn't been anything that our caucus has kind of grabbed hold of as an issue that they want to unify behind,” Osborne said. “But we continue to have those conversations as things get filed.”
No sanctuary policies allowed
Rep. Jared Bauman, a Republican from Louisville, filed House Bill 361 Tuesday to ensure police departments don’t have any “sanctuary policies” and require that they use their "reasonably available” resources to support federal immigration enforcement. It also would bar local governments from prohibiting officers from exchanging information with immigration agencies. Bauman did not return a request for an interview.
The Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting recently revealed that at least one detective within the Louisville Metro Police Department had been sharing log-in information for the city’s network of Flock license plate readers with federal agents, who used them for immigration enforcement. That goes against the city’s policy and three LMPD employees were disciplined.
The bill requires local and county jails to cooperate willingly with ICE when they are asked to hold someone they say is in the country illegally. It also requires them to enter into agreements with ICE to house people who are “the subject of immigration detainers.” It is unclear if that means counties must offer to be detention centers for immigrants while their cases move through the courts or if they must only adhere to requested immigration detainers while they wait for ICE to move them to a different facility.
If a local government doesn’t follow these rules, the attorney general would be required to investigate and cut off road funding if they don’t comply.
Angela Cooper, a spokesperson with the ACLU of Kentucky, told KPR that the legislation, alongside some of the other immigration-focused bills, seem focused on “taking control out of the localities’ hands.”
“Local police departments and the Kentucky State Police, for that matter, know what their resources are. They know what their capacity is,” Cooper said. “They know what their focus is. I'm unsure why the legislature would want to step in and force them to divert time, attention and resources to immigration efforts, particularly when ICE is so well funded right now.”
Required participation for local agencies
20Over in the state Senate, Republican Sen. Phillip Wheeler of Pikeville proposed a bill that would require every local law enforcement agency and Kentucky State Police to enter into formal agreements to help federal immigration agencies beyond the usual scope of a state or local agency.
“When individuals are already in custody for criminal activity, law enforcement agencies should have the tools and partnerships needed to ensure the law is enforced appropriately and responsibly,” Wheeler said in a statement.
But Senate Bill 86 does not solely require law enforcement agencies to act when a person is already in custody; it also requires police to engage in the Task Force Model, described below, that would incorporate immigration enforcement into regular duties. Here are the three different programs that Wheeler would require all agencies to participate in through SB 86.
- The Jail Enforcement Model, which is intended to help “identify and process” immigrants facing criminal charges who’ve been arrested by state or local police and are deemed “removable” from the U.S. Five local law enforcement agencies in Kentucky are already participating in this model.
- The Task Force Model, under which police agencies can “enforce limited immigration authority with ICE oversight during their routine police duties.” This model was eliminated more than a decade ago after it was linked to significant problems with racial profiling by police, but Trump brought it back. Eighteen local law enforcement agencies in Kentucky are already participating in this model.
- The Warrant Service Officer Model, which lets ICE train and authorize officers with state or local police to serve administrative warrants on immigrants in their respective agency’s jail. Five local law enforcement agencies in Kentucky are already participating in this model.
Participation in the programs has increased significantly in Kentucky over 2025. KyCIR reported in February 2025 that no Kentucky law enforcement agencies had 287(g) agreements with ICE.
GOP Rep. T.J. Roberts of Burlington filed similar, but more limited, legislation at the start of the session. House Bill 47 would require all Kentucky State Police posts to enter into agreements with ICE through the Task Force Model Program. Under his bill, participating officers would have to complete 40 hours of training too.
Cooper with the ACLU said law enforcement agencies already have the ability to enter into agreements with ICE and it shouldn’t become a mandate.
“The local police and the local agencies are the ones who know what the needs of their communities are,” Cooper said. “I'm unsure as to why the state legislature would want to step in and force them to enter into cooperation with ICE if it's not necessary, and especially if it would detract from their mission to serve the communities they work in.”
Two other bills, intended to aid in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown through denying pretrial release and by criminalizing living and working in the U.S. without legal status.
- House Bill 62, sponsored by Fisherville GOP Rep. John Hodgson, would make it a crime for a person to seek or perform work while “unlawfully present” in the U.S. The legislation makes working while undocumented a Class A misdemeanor, which can carry up to 12 months of jail time and up to $500 fine. Alongside Hodgson, the bill has 10 co-sponsors.
- House Bill 76 would require every person to provide proof that they are a citizen before being released ahead of a trial. If a person cannot provide that proof, the jail would have to immediately inform the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and could be held for up to 48 hours. Roberts is also sponsoring HB 76.
