3.29 / 18
the national average across the nine limits a state can write into its own law
The Federal Authority Record
The state of the line, today.
One board for the whole record: where federal power has removed its own limits, which state-law limit answers each, and how prepared every state is right now. Every entry is dated, sourced, and tagged by where it stands in court.
The record as of June 28, 2026 · 92 entries across the federal record
36 of 52
jurisdictions grade F — no meaningful limits enacted
4
states earn an A — Oregon, California, Illinois, New Jersey
21
states mandate cooperation with federal civil enforcement by law
2,127
local police deputized as federal agents — up from ~135
60,311
held in civil detention — most with no conviction
+71%
detention growth since federal oversight ended
$170.7B
authorized for enforcement — the largest on record
The grade numbers describe state readiness; the pressure numbers describe federal action a state can lawfully decline to assist. This page holds them on one board.
Grades: Federal Limits methodology v3.4, 52 jurisdictions scored on nine standards (0/1/2, max 18). · 287(g): ICE roster, 2,127 MOAs as of Jul 14 2026. · Detention: ICE records via TRAC, 60,311 held as of Apr 4 2026. · +71%: U.S. Government Accountability Office, June 2026. · $170.7B: H.R. 1, signed Jul 4 2025.
The crosswalk
For every move, a limit that answers it.
The record shows how federal power removes limits on itself — and how fast. The scoreboard shows which states have redrawn a limit in state law. Here they sit on one grid: the federal move (immigration enforcement is the clearest example, but not the only one), the state-law limit drawn from a law already enacted somewhere, how many states have it — and whether it has held in court. Open any line for the model and the receipts.
The limit: bar the state’s own officers, money, equipment, and facilities from federal civil immigration enforcement — while still honoring valid criminal warrants.
Model: California SB 54 (§7284.6); Illinois Way Forward Act — tested in federal court and upheld.
In the record → Paying isn’t compelling, so the courts don’t reach it — only a state law declining to take part does.
The limit: bar state and local agencies from entering, renewing, or maintaining any 287(g) agreement, with a wind-down for those that exist.
Model: California Gov. Code §7284.9; Maryland HB 444 (2026) — the cleanest 180-day wind-down.
In the record → A statutory ban holds where enacted; where none exists, courts have let the deals stand.
The limit: bar state facilitation of enforcement at protected places and require a judge’s warrant before entry to their non-public areas.
Model: California SB 54 (§7284.4) + AB 49/495; New York’s Protect Our Courts Act — upheld.
In the record → The federal restraint was self-imposed since 2011 — and rescinded in one memo. Only a state property law is durable.
The limit: withhold the state’s own permits, funding, leases, and zoning from for-profit detention — the lever courts have left standing.
Model: Illinois 730 ILCS 141 (federal challenge dismissed); Maryland HB 1018 (zoning).
In the record → Flat bans have been struck; the durable slice is the state’s own permits and leases.
The limit: bar state agencies from handing residents’ voter, DMV, school, health, and licensing data to federal civil enforcement without a judge’s warrant.
Model: Colorado SB 24-182; California Veh. Code 1801.1; Illinois Way Forward Act.
In the record → Courts struck the worst of it — but those are reversible orders; only a state firewall is durable.
The limit: require a judge-signed warrant before any state actor detains or transfers a person for federal civil enforcement; agency forms and detainers don’t qualify.
Model: California SB 54 (§7284.6); Massachusetts (Lunn v. Commonwealth).
In the record → Four courts enjoined the practice and three found defiance — the state statute is the self-executing fix.
The limit: require public reporting, by statute, on the state’s own interactions with federal civil enforcement.
Model: California Gov. Code §7284.10; Colorado SB 21-131.
In the record → You can’t contest what you can’t see — a state record survives when the federal one goes dark.
The limit: make the state’s limits enforceable — a private right to sue and/or attorney-general authority reaching local law enforcement.
Model: Connecticut HB 7212 (2025); the Illinois Bivens Act (PA 104-0440).
In the record → Federal damages claims closed; states are recreating the remedy. A limit with no remedy is a suggestion.
The limit: require the state’s own officers to show ID and not mask on duty during cooperation, keep cameras recording, and protect the public’s right to record.
Model: Oregon HB 4138; Connecticut SB 397.
In the record → The state-officer slice survives; the 9th Cir. affirmed on retaliation grounds, with terms narrowed on remand (Apr 1 2026).
The acceleration
135 to 2,127 in eighteen months.
Agreements deputizing local police for federal civil enforcement, as counted on ICE’s own roster.
287(g) roster count (ICE)
press estimate — not a roster count
event marker — open for source
ICE 287(g) roster snapshots · counted via FL’s parser · as of Jul 14 2026.
| Date | Agreements | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 20, 2025 | 135 | ICE 287(g) roster baseline |
| Jun 2025 | ~649 | ICE 287(g) roster |
| Early 2026 | ~1,412 | LAist press count, not an ICE roster figure |
| Jun 5, 2026 | 1,903 | ICE 287(g) roster |
| Jun 28, 2026 | 2,033 | ICE 287(g) roster |
| Jul 2, 2026 | 2,070 | ICE 287(g) roster |
| Jul 9, 2026 | 2,116 | ICE 287(g) roster |
| Jul 14, 2026 | 2,127 | ICE 287(g) roster — current |
The receipts
Three branches. One direction.
A working file, not a feed — representative entries from the full record, each tagged by where it stands. Courts sometimes check these after the fact, and a ruling can be appealed. A state law decides something different: whether the state helps carry them out in the first place.
Browse all 92 entries — filter, sort, search →Executive 41 entries
Paid deputization reaches 2,127 agreements
Agreements deputizing local police as federal immigration agents grew roughly fifteenfold in eighteen months, backed by a per-arrest payment program effective Oct 1, 2025.
Source: ICE 287(g) roster · American Immigration Council
Custody deaths, the most since 2003
At least 39 people died in federal immigration custody in the year ending January 19, 2026 — the most since the agency was created in 2003 — for what is civil detention, not a criminal sentence.
Source: Human Rights Watch & Physicians for Human Rights, “Dying in Detention” (Jun 2026)
Military deployment to a state — blocked
The Supreme Court left in place a block on federalizing a state’s National Guard over the governor’s objection; deployments to several cities were ruled unlawful and wound down.
Source: supremecourt.gov · order of Dec 23, 2025
Cross-agency voter-screening database — struck down
A federal court set aside the 2025 overhaul of the system used to screen state voter rolls — no statutory authority, and a breach of federal privacy law.
Source: League of Women Voters v. DHS · D.D.C.
Legislative 24 entries
$170.7B authorized for enforcement
The largest immigration-enforcement authorization in the country’s history — funding detention beds, officer hiring, and grants — signed into law.
Source: congress.gov · H.R. 1
Mandatory detention without a bond hearing
A new law requires detention without an individualized bond hearing on arrest or charge — not conviction — for a broad set of offenses.
Source: congress.gov · S. 5
Voter-roll data-sharing bill — stalled
A bill to require states to hand unredacted voter rolls to DHS each quarter passed the House but failed a Senate cloture vote, 53–47.
Source: congress.gov · H.R. 7296
Enforcement funding routed around the annual check
After an appropriations standoff excluded enforcement funding, that funding was moved into a reconciliation track — around the check the standoff created.
Source: congress.gov · reporting via NPR
Judicial 27 entries
The trial judges answer to the prosecutor
The immigration courts sit inside the Department of Justice under the Attorney General — who supervises the judges, can reassign them, and can decide a case personally and bind every judge as precedent.
Source: Harvard Law Review · justice.gov (EOIR)
Warrantless arrests enjoined — and defiance found
A court enjoined warrantless civil arrests, then found material noncompliance: of 36 arrest reports reviewed, none complied, and remedial training was ordered.
Source: U.S. District Court, D. Colo. · May 12 2026
Courthouse arrests — enjoined nationwide
A federal court set aside the policy of arresting people at courthouses without a reasoned basis, on administrative-law grounds.
Source: U.S. District Court · APA ruling, Dec 2025
Birthright citizenship — order struck down
The Supreme Court held that citizenship guaranteed at birth cannot be narrowed by executive order — the Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause applies regardless of parents’ status. Decided 6–3, June 30, 2026 (Trump v. Barbara, No. 25-365).
Source: supremecourt.gov · decided Jun 30 2026
State readiness
What your missing lines leave open.
Not “see your grade” — see which of the nine your state has drawn, and which it leaves open to the moves in the record. Select any jurisdiction.
A
B
C
D
F
The full scorecard
Every jurisdiction, every line.
The map above reads one state at a time. The full instrument — sort, search, filter, and export every jurisdiction against all nine limits — lives on Explore.
4states earn an A
3.29 / 18national average
36jurisdictions grade F
Federal Limits methodology v3.4, as of June 10, 2026.
Explore the full scorecard — every state, every standard →The honest ledger
Don’t the courts stop this? Sometimes.
The record holds the losses next to the wins — that is what makes the wins credible. Some limits held in court. Others gave way, or are still running right now.
Where a limit held
A military deployment to a state — the Supreme Court kept the block in place.Dec 2025 · supremecourt.gov
The cross-agency voter-screening database — struck down for lack of authority.Jun 2026 · D.D.C.
Subpoenas to state officials — quashed on anti-commandeering grounds.Jun 2026 · D. Minn.
“Invasion” framing of civil enforcement — ruled unlawful, upheld on appeal.2025–26 · D.C. Circuit
Where it gave way — or still runs
Paid deputization — 2,127 agreements and climbing; the courts don’t reach it.
Detention — up 71%, with the most custody deaths since 2003.
Warrantless arrests — the practice continued; the memo was never rescinded.
State driver-record access — 292,114 searches in a single year.
The courts are a backstop, not a guarantee — and a state doesn’t have to wait on one.
The widest-open lines
Three limits almost no one has drawn.
Of the nine, these three are the least enacted at full strength — the widest-open lines in the country, and the fastest way for a state to move.
2states at full strength
04 · Limit for-profit detention
The bed count is the removal capacity — and only Illinois and Oregon hold the line at full strength.
3states at full strength
07 · Public cooperation record
When the federal record goes dark, a state reporting law is the only one that keeps the lights on.
5states at full strength
09 · Identified agents, recording allowed
The minimum proof of who did what — required of the state’s own officers, with the right to record protected.
The record is the argument.
A state law is the answer.
Every limit here is drawn from a law a state has already enacted and defended in court. The only question left is which state moves next.
See where your state stands → Read the nine limits →