To understand the finances of the Department of Homeland Security's partnership with local law enforcement agencies, The Wall Street Journal filed public records requests, analyzed financial, demographic and arrest data and interviewed local law enforcement officials, immigration attorneys and current and former Department of Homeland Security officials.

The Journal examined Immigration and Customs Enforcement records released under a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by the Deportation Data Project, which cover arrests through early August 2026. The Journal combined those records with ICE's public roster of 287(g) agreements and census data to examine where the program grew.

DHS doesn't release the number of arrests made by individual agencies or how much money those agencies have received or are eligible to receive. The Journal obtained those figures for 14 individual departments in five states and compared them with per-officer payout amounts and program requirements published by DHS.

To estimate eligible stipends for local agencies in Florida, the Journal used data released by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement showing arrests and the number of officers enrolled statewide in the task force program.

Audio forensic expert Robert Maher assisted the Journal in transcribing audio of the arrest of Kenny Laynez.