As Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton made his office the first Texas law enforcement agency to sign a 287(g) agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Trump's second term, and its investigators have since detained people across Texas and handed them to ICE for deportation, including 50 people in Houston-area raids he announced in January 2026. He also sued to stop Harris County's free legal help for low-income residents facing deportation, and the Texas Supreme Court froze the program in June 2026 while the case continues.
Paxton defended SB 4, the Texas law that makes illegal entry a state crime, until a federal appeals court let Texas enforce it in May 2026, and in June 2025 he sided with the Justice Department to end in-state tuition for undocumented students in Texas. In July 2025 he praised the One Big Beautiful Bill Act for its "funding to continue deporting," money that includes $45 billion for immigration detention.
Ken Paxton's Deportation Arrests, Lawsuits and Statements on Immigration
- Paxton Signed Texas's First 287(g) Deal and His Office Turned Dozens of People Over to ICE. On February 2, 2025, Ken Paxton signed a 287(g) agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, making his office the first Texas law enforcement agency to do so in Trump's second term: "I am proud to be the first to join him," he said, and he called on every state and local law enforcement agency in Texas to sign one. Through the agreement his Criminal Investigation Division detained and turned over for deportation 35 people, he announced on October 22, 2025 ("Every illegal must be found, detained, and deported"), and on January 7, 2026 he announced raids throughout the Houston area that detained 50 more: "Alongside the Trump Administration, my office helps round up these criminals." In 2026 he also demanded that Dallas County "request and enter" its own 287(g) agreement and warned he would "use every tool available" to force it. Each person his investigators detain is handed to ICE for removal, into a detention system where, according to ICE data reported by KPBS in August 2026, more than 70% of them do not have criminal convictions.
- Paxton Won a Court Order Freezing Harris County's Free Legal Help for People Facing Deportation. Ken Paxton sued Harris County, alleging that it unlawfully directed more than $1.3 million in taxpayer funds to legal defense for immigrants in federal deportation proceedings. On June 26, 2026, at his request, the Texas Supreme Court ordered the county to stop spending money on its Immigrant Legal Services Fund and Immigration Resource Hotline while the case continues; Paxton praised the court for "correctly ordering that this unlawful program is frozen as the case continues." The program, created in 2020, provides free legal services to eligible Harris County residents facing deportation while in ICE custody, for applicants who earn less than 80% of the area's median family income.
- Paxton Defended SB 4 Until Courts Let Texas Police Arrest People on Suspicion of Illegal Entry in 2026. Ken Paxton defended SB 4, the 2023 Texas law that makes entering Texas anywhere other than a lawful port of entry a state crime. On April 24, 2026, the full Fifth Circuit held that the plaintiffs lacked standing and removed the injunction, Paxton announced, and on May 29, 2026 a Fifth Circuit panel stayed a new injunction, which cleared the way for Texas to enforce Senate Bill 4. The law allows Texas law enforcement officers to arrest people suspected of entering the country illegally, and it creates new criminal procedures for state-ordered deportations by state judges; the Immigrant Legal Resource Center reports that advocates have documented individuals being arrested and quickly transferred to U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement custody rather than getting a chance to defend themselves against the state charges.
- Paxton Joined the Justice Department to End In-State Tuition for Undocumented Students in Texas in 2025. On June 4, 2025, within hours of a federal lawsuit targeting Texas' policy, Ken Paxton's office asked the court to side with the Justice Department, and the court struck down the 2001 law that let undocumented students who grew up in Texas pay in-state tuition. Paxton called it "a major victory for Texas." At UT Tyler, in-state tuition and fees for the upcoming academic year total $9,736, compared to more than $25,000 for out-of-state students, the Hechinger Report found, and one student there withdrew because her family could not pay the higher bill. The American Immigration Council estimated that ending in-state tuition could cost Texas more than $460 million a year from lost wages and spending power.
- Paxton Urged an Appeals Court to Let Alien Enemies Act Deportations Proceed in March 2025. On March 19, 2025, Ken Paxton joined a coalition urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to stay a district court ruling that blocked the administration's removals under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798: "I fully support President Trump's effort to keep America safe." Days earlier, on March 15, 2025, the administration sent 261 men to CECOT, the El Salvador prison, after invoking the Alien Enemies Act; their lawyers said many of them either had no criminal record or were in the middle of asylum hearings.
- Paxton Praised the One Big Beautiful Bill Act's Deportation Money, Including $45 Billion for Detention. Ken Paxton posted on July 1, 2025, after the Senate passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act: "One step closer to massive tax cuts and funding to continue deporting the violent illegals that Joe Biden brought into this country!" On July 3, 2025 he called the bill "HISTORIC legislation" that would "help deport the millions of illegals aliens." The law provides $45,000,000,000 for single adult and family detention capacity, which the American Immigration Council calculates is a 308 percent increase on an annual basis over ICE's FY 2024 detention budget.
- Paxton Backed the Laken Riley Act, Which Judges Now Use to Keep Immigrants Detained Without a Conviction. When Trump signed the Laken Riley Act on January 29, 2025, Ken Paxton said: "I stand with President Trump in his efforts to catch and detain every single violent, criminal illegal immigrant." The law requires the detention of immigrants who have been arrested for theft, burglary, shoplifting and other listed offenses, even without a conviction; KPBS reported in August 2026 that immigration judges are using the Laken Riley Act as justification for their detention, including for a man whose case a county judge dismissed in criminal court.
What Ken Paxton's Enforcement Record Means for Immigrants Held in Texas
- Detention deaths. Three people died at the hastily constructed camp at El Paso's U.S. Army base, Camp East Montana, and one was ruled a homicide involving staff, the Texas Tribune reported in February 2026.
- Death in Laredo. Emiliano Andrade-Covarrubias, 56, a Dallas man who was a lawful permanent resident, was found unconscious in his bed at the Rio Grande Processing Center in Laredo and died in ICE custody in October 2026.
- Children in detention. At the family detention center in Dilley, Texas, ProPublica found children so distraught they cut themselves or talked about suicide.
- Local police deputized. By February 2026, Texas had 299 active 287(g) agreements across 241 law enforcement agencies, according to ICE data compiled by Texas Policy Research: agreements under which deputized local officers can assist in the investigation, apprehension, and detention of immigrants for ICE.
Frequently Asked Questions About Ken Paxton on Immigration and enforcement
What is Ken Paxton's record on immigration and enforcement under Trump?
Ken Paxton turned his attorney general's office into a deportation partner of ICE through a 287(g) agreement and announced raids that detained dozens of people in Texas for removal. He won a court order freezing Harris County's free legal help for people facing deportation, defended SB 4 until it became enforceable, and helped end in-state tuition for undocumented students. He also praised the One Big Beautiful Bill Act's detention money and the Laken Riley Act.
Does Ken Paxton's office arrest immigrants for ICE?
Yes. Ken Paxton's Criminal Investigation Division detains people and turns them over for deportation under the 287(g) agreement his office signed in February 2025. He has also pressed county sheriffs to join: in a letter to Dallas County he said Texas law makes participation mandatory, and the county's sheriff answered that the state deadline is December 1, 2026.
Did Ken Paxton end in-state tuition for undocumented students in Texas?
Ken Paxton did not defend the Texas law; when the Justice Department sued in June 2025, his office joined the federal government in asking the court to strike it, and the court did the same day. Paxton claimed credit for the outcome, and the Hechinger Report found that the change left Texas universities using different guidelines to decide which students must pay out-of-state rates.
Can Texas police arrest migrants under SB 4 now?
Yes. Ken Paxton's defense of SB 4 ended with the Fifth Circuit clearing the way for Texas to enforce it on May 29, 2026, after a new class action had briefly won an injunction. First-time illegal entry is a misdemeanor, and subsequent offenses carry felony penalties of up to 20 years in prison for those who refuse to comply with removal orders.
Why did Ken Paxton sue Harris County over immigrant legal aid?
Ken Paxton argued that Harris County could not spend taxpayer money on lawyers for residents facing deportation, and in June 2026 the Texas Supreme Court paused the program while the case continues. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said the county has an estimated 412,000 undocumented residents who account for nearly 10% of the county's labor force.
Last updated: 2026-10-25