04/06/2026
“ICE agents were not at the school but two Hillsdale police officers were in the school's parking lot when he arrived, Kilbride said. The Hillsdale officers informed him they were working under a 287(g) agreement, a program through Homeland Security and ICE that partners with local police departments on immigration enforcement.
Kilbride said the officers — he described them as "dressed in tactical gear" — approached school leaders and said they needed to check on three students.
About 100 sixth-graders were outside for recess at the time, Kilbride said. The kids saw the officers and were ushered inside by teachers "to reduce the level of fear that was created." A little over one-third of students in the Ritenour district are Hispanic.
“The whole community is really monitoring the actions of Homeland Security and immigration, but we’ve never had people come to a school,” Kilbride said.
It was unclear, Kilbride said, why officers from Hillsdale — a small municipality three miles to the east of the school — were at Ritenour Middle.
Hillsdale is not within the Ritenour School District's boundaries and does not contract to provide police services to municipalities around it. Charlack uses St. Ann police and Sycamore Hills, whose border runs along the school, uses St. John.
Kilbride said the officers did not mention ICE specifically but said they were working under a 287(g) agreement.
“As I understand, it’s pretty lucrative for one of these departments to sign these agreements,” Kilbride said.
The 287(g) agreements with ICE offer financial incentives to local enforcement for helping federal immigration authorities and are part of the Trump administration's efforts to ramp up deportations of illegal immigrants.
According to Homeland Security, the contracts reimburse departments for the salaries and benefits, including overtime up to 25% of annual salary, for each officer who completes special training. The department also said it offers "monetary performance awards based on the successful location of illegal aliens provided by ICE."
Several area law enforcement agencies have signed similar agreements, and the St. Charles County Council just voted to enter into one, spurring disagreement between supporters and opponents in that county. The Missouri Highway Patrol has also signed one of the agreements, as has Jefferson County and Lincoln County.
Larger area departments, such as the St. Louis County and St. Louis police departments, have not signed 287(g) agreements. But earlier this month, KMOV, Channel 4, reported that several small North County departments, including Breckenridge Hills, St. Ann, Woodson Terrace and Country Club Hills, had done so.
The agreements with local law enforcement, along with the Trump administration's larger immigration agenda, have drawn increased scrutiny since the shooting deaths by ICE agents of two Minneapolis residents amid a surge of enforcement in that city earlier this year.”
https://archive.is/20260404234615/https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/government-politics/article_15d2197d-b7bc-483f-9000-28270d6f7f1e.html
