MARLIN, Texas (KXXV) — The Falls County Sheriff's Office has maintained an ICE immigration enforcement agreement since March, giving deputies federal authority.
- Falls County Sheriff's Office has maintained an ICE immigration enforcement agreement since March 2025 - giving deputies federal authority to question individuals and make arrests in certain cases.
- Falls County joins other Central Texas counties with similar ICE agreements - including Bell, Bosque, Hill, and McLennan counties in the regional enforcement partnership.
- Deputies can perform federal immigration officer functions under the "Task Force Model".
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
The Falls County Sheriff's Office has maintained an immigration law enforcement agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement since March of last year, documents obtained by 25 News reveal.
The agreement, approved more than nine months ago, gives qualified officers and employees in Falls County the authority to perform certain functions of a federal immigration officer under what's called the "Task Force Model."
"When we came into office, we wanted to be good partners with our federal, state and local officials, and this is just an extension of that," Falls County Sheriff Jason Campbell said. "I knew the program existed, and we wanted to get on board and be a good partner to them, as they're a good partner to us."
Under the agreement, deputies can question individuals they believe may not be legally in the United States and, in certain cases, make arrests without a warrant.
Campbell said the agreement addresses rising crime concerns linked to unauthorized immigration.
"We see a headline almost every day about crime, and unfortunately, some of them are committed by people that shouldn't be here," Campbell said. "In the last four years, we saw a massive influx into our country of people that shouldn't be here and unfortunately, they're committing crimes, and ICE can't do it by themselves, and they need good partners to help enforce it."
The sheriff said the agreement has already produced results, particularly in child welfare cases.
"Probably the most rewarding thing that we've done is help try to find some of the children that don't know where they're at, or they're not sure where they're at," Campbell said. "We were given a list last month, and we were able to locate five kids and verify that there they weren't being human trafficked or sex trafficked and were enrolled in school."
Campbell emphasized that public safety remains the primary goal.
"It's something I believe in and I think it's the right thing to do," Campbell said.
Falls County joins several other Central Texas counties with similar ICE agreements, including Bell, Bosque, and Hill counties.
McLennan County approved its agreement less than two weeks ago.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
