Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office Signs ICE Agreements

A report from the Acadiana Advocate confirms that the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office has formally signed agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, allowing certain immigration enforcement actions to take place throughout Lafayette Parish.

The agreements were signed on December 11, 2025, and fall under ICE’s federal 287(g) program. That program allows state and local law enforcement agencies to carry out limited immigration officer functions under ICE direction and oversight.

The move comes at a time when immigration enforcement remains a deeply divisive issue nationwide, with strong opinions on both sides regarding how ICE operations are conducted and who may be affected.

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What the agreements allow

According to the report, the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office signed on under two models. These include the Task Force Model and the Warrant Service Model.

Under the Task Force Model, certain deputies are authorized to question and arrest individuals believed to be in the country illegally during routine law enforcement duties. Under the Warrant Service Model, deputies can serve and execute ICE warrants on individuals already being held in the parish jail.

LPSO spokesperson Sgt. Chris Cormier said these responsibilities would be handled alongside normal operations and would not result in special raids or targeted operations.

“We’re already keeping everything as it is,” Cormier said, adding that ICE would remain in a supervisory role and any immigration-related charges would require ICE approval.

What is not changing

The Lafayette Police Department is not listed as a participating agency in the program.

Officials also emphasized that jail capacity will not increase as a result of the agreements, and no immigration-related arrests have been made since the agreements were signed. Fewer than 20 deputies are participating in the task force, and fewer than 10 are assigned to warrant services.

Cormier also noted that deputies are not conducting independent immigration raids, and day-to-day operations at the sheriff’s office are expected to remain largely unchanged.

For more details and full reporting, see the original report from the Acadiana Advocate.