Across South Carolina — and especially here in Horry County — immigration enforcement is rapidly expanding in ways that raise serious concerns about civil liberties, public trust, and the ethical use of taxpayer resources. As of July 2025, at least 28 local and state law enforcement agencies in South Carolina have formal agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under the controversial 287(g) program — and Horry County is among them.
Under the Jail Enforcement Model, local corrections officers in Horry County jails are deputized by ICE to act as federal immigration agents, questioning individuals in custody about their immigration status and initiating deportation proceedings. This model blurs the line between local policing and federal immigration enforcement — often without public input or transparency.
Despite the absence of a dedicated ICE detention center in South Carolina, ICE still detains people in local jails like Charleston County and York County Detention Centers. Some counties, including Horry, have also enrolled in the Secure Communities program (Archived Content *In an effort to keep ICE.gov current, the archive contains content from a previous administration or is otherwise outdated. This information is archived and not reflective of current practice), a system that funnels information from local jails directly to ICE, increasing the likelihood of deportation for individuals arrested — even for minor infractions.
These enforcement mechanisms operate largely in the shadows, yet their impact is deeply felt. Families are separated. Immigrants live in fear. Communities lose trust in local law enforcement — making everyone less safe.
A Costly and Unjust System
Collaboration with ICE doesn’t come free. Deputizing local officers to carry out federal immigration duties diverts time, training, and resources away from local priorities. A 2019 study from the North Carolina Justice Center revealed that a single decade of local collaboration with ICE in that state cost taxpayers more than $81.7 million — a burden likely to be mirrored in South Carolina.
In Horry County, these ICE partnerships raise pressing questions:
- How much is this collaboration costing local taxpayers?
- What outcomes are being measured, and who is being affected?
- How are these agreements impacting public trust in law enforcement?
At a time when our communities need stronger ties between neighbors and better relationships with police, ICE’s growing footprint only deepens divisions.
What You Can Do
Fighting back against harmful ICE expansion starts at the local level — and you can make a difference.
🗳️ Hold Sheriffs Accountable
Most ICE agreements in South Carolina were signed by elected sheriffs. These public servants work for the people — and that means they should answer to you. When your local sheriff is up for re-election, ask candidates where they stand on ICE collaboration. If they’ve signed a 287(g) agreement, demand transparency and accountability.
💬 Speak Up at Council Meetings
Local budgets fund sheriff’s departments and jails. Use your voice at Horry County Council meetings to push back on ICE collaboration and demand a full accounting of the costs — both financial and human.
🤝 Support Immigrant Communities
Reach out to immigrant advocacy organizations in South Carolina, attend public forums, and share accurate information about immigration enforcement practices. Building awareness is a crucial first step toward change.
We Must Choose Compassion Over Fear
The growing collaboration between ICE and local law enforcement in South Carolina — including right here in Horry County — is not just a legal issue. It is a human rights issue. Families are being torn apart, children are growing up in fear, and people are being punished for seeking safety and opportunity.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
Together, we can demand a more just and humane approach to immigration — one that respects human dignity, protects public trust, and reflects the values we hold dear in Horry County.
REFERENCES:
ICE, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, detains people in a variety of facilities across the United States, including dedicated immigration detention centers, state and local jails, and, in some cases, juvenile detention centers and shelters. Many of these facilities are privately-run. While there aren’t any designated ICE detention facilities in South Carolina, ICE does utilize local detention centers like the Charleston County Detention Center and York County Detention Center for holding individuals in immigration custody. Additionally, some South Carolina counties participate in the Secure Communities program, which allows ICE to identify and remove “criminal aliens” from state prisons and local jails.
The State Newspaper (June 11, 2025)
Since President Trump’s second term, 13 South Carolina law enforcement agencies have signed 287-G agreements with ICE, raising concerns about community trust and political influence.
@thestatenewspaper Since President Trump’s second term, 13 South Carolina law enforcement agencies have signed 287-G agreements with ICE, raising concerns about community trust and political influence. #southcarolina #sc #immigration #ICE #donaldtrump #287-G ♬ original sound – TheStateNewspaper
Currently, the S.C. Department of Corrections operates 21 prisons serving about 16,000 inmates. It is a cabinet agency led by Acting Director Joel Anderson and reporting to Gov. Henry McMaster. The agency employs about 4,500 people.
»Visit the SC DOC website here.
Are your local police collaborating with ICE?
The number of 287(g) ICE agreements has quintupled this year in South Carolina. Find out if your community is affected.
By Paul Bowers, Communications Director (June 5, 2025 – 10:30am)
Jail Enforcement Model (Horry, Lexington, and York counties): “Under this model, ICE delegates certain immigration authorities to state and local law enforcement agencies to identify immigrants in state and local custody and place them into immigration proceedings. Corrections officers in local jails, under the supervision of ICE, are deputized by the federal government to interrogate people in their custody about their immigration status and funnel people into the deportation pipeline”
Task Force Model (Berkeley, Chester, Kershaw, Pickens, and Union counties): “ICE describes this type of agreement as ‘a force multiplier’ that allows state and local law enforcement agencies to make immigration arrests during routine police enforcement. This model, the broadest and deepest form of collusion with ICE, essentially turns police officers into ICE agents.”
Warrant Service Officer (Anderson, Berkeley, Charleston, Chester, Dorchester, Georgetown, Greenville, Lancaster, Marlboro, McCormick, Newberry, Oconee, Pickens, Spartanburg, and Union counties): “This type of agreement allows ICE to train, certify, and authorize state and local law enforcement officers to serve and execute administrative immigration warrants on people who are in custody in their agency’s jail.”
What you can do
Most new ICE partnerships in South Carolina were signed by sheriffs. Those are elected positions. The next time your local sheriff is up for election, research the candidates’ positions on this issue. If they haven’t announced their position, ask them about it.
You can also apply pressure at town, city, and county council meetings where budgets for law enforcement are decided. Collaborating with ICE comes at a cost to local taxpayers, and the people who hold the purse strings need to take that into account. To cite one example, a 2019 study by the North Carolina Justice Center found that the cumulative cost to North Carolina taxpayers of collaboration with ICE over a decade was at least $81.7 million.
If your local police force has already entered an agreement with ICE, demand answers about the cost and outcomes of this program. What does it cost, in terms of employee hours and dollars spent? What are the outcomes, and how is this partnership affecting trust between police and the communities they serve?
ICE didn’t always have such a cozy relationship with local law enforcement. Now immigrant communities are fearful, public trust in police is waning, and we hear new stories of ICE’s abuses every day.
As with so many national struggles that can feel overwhelming, we can still turn the tide at the local level.
More SC law enforcement agencies are joining an ICE program aimed at accelerating deportations
By Mitchell Black and Komlavi Adissem (Jun 20, 2025)
South Carolina has the sixth most agreements for ICE’s 287(g) program in the country, as of June 19. Florida, which mandates that counties operating jails join the program, leads the nation with 298 agreements.
»Read the full article here (Paywall).
ICE presence growing in South Carolina
BY Jeremy Wynder South Carolina (July 21, 2025)
SOUTH CAROLINA – The footprint of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is steadily growing in South Carolina.
According to data released over the weekend, the number of state and local law enforcement agencies that are partnering with ICE has now reached 28.
That number is more than double what it was a few months ago in April. These growing partnerships are made possible through ICE’s 287g program. The program allows for partnering agencies to work as an extension of ICE and detain who they believe to be undocumented migrants.
In tandem, as the number of partnerships grow, so do the number of arrests.
Last year, South Carolina ICE arrests were around 100 per month. However, the latest numbers show that March alone produced just under 350 arrests.
South Carolina ICE arrests already surpassing last year’s total
By Grace Runkel Published: Jul. 23, 2025 at 10:20 PM EDT
GREENVILLE, S.C. (FOX Carolina) – The latest data shows Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested more people in South Carolina in the first half of 2025 than they did throughout all of 2024.
According to numbers from the Deportation Data Project, ICE agents arrested 1,755 people from Jan. 1, 2025 to June 26, 2025.
Last year, agents arrested 1,294 people in South Carolina.
