President Trump and his team are looking to state and local law enforcement to help them arrest and deport foreigners who are in the country without authorization. Many of the nation’s sheriffs have responded with enthusiasm.

They are thrilled to work with the Trump administration, they said, and to once again “have a seat at the table” after four years of what they have described as being ignored by the Biden administration.

But the sheriffs say they need something in return: money, and lots of it, to cover the cost of what it will take to refocus scant local resources on what is inherently a federal responsibility.

“The federal government will have to dedicate substantial resources in order to help cover this, and that’s no secret. They know that,” said Jim Skinner, the sheriff in Collin County, Texas.

Where the money would come from is not yet clear. And the sheriffs’ role would be part of a larger federal effort to crack down on immigration violations, all of which will require a significant infusion of new federal funding at a time when there is a commitment to vast cost-cutting across the federal government. Mr. Trump’s “border czar,” Tom Homan, has said mass deportations will cost around $86 billion.

While the Trump administration is looking to all state and local law enforcement for help on combating illegal immigration, the country’s sheriffs are a logical place to start. As elected officials, they operate with more autonomy than police chiefs, and they control thousands of jails.