Teton County Sheriff Says He Didn't Sabotage ICE's Plans To Deport Illegal Immigrants

Recent friction between Wyoming’s only U.S. House representative and the Teton County Sheriff’s Office regarding illegal immigration processes boils down to a liability concern, the sheriff told Cowboy State Daily on Monday.

Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyoming, told readers of her Sunday newsletter that Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) conducted a recent operation in Teton County.

“There were scores of individuals being held in the county jail who met the agency’s threshold for being detained and deported,” says Hageman’s newsletter, sent Sunday to email subscribers.

Those detainees’ charges included DUIs, illicit drugs and sexual violence allegations, the newsletter adds.

“ICE requested the Teton County Sheriff’s Office to first hold these individuals in custody and to then transfer them to ICE for having violated immigration law, but the sheriff’s office chose to release them, thereby foiling ICE’s efforts,” says the newsletter.

Hageman vowed to stay engaged on the issue and work with President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration to ensure compliance with federal immigration laws.

What?

Teton County Sheriff Matt Carr voiced confusion with the newsletter’s statements Monday. He said he hadn’t heard of a recent operation in the county by ICE, though it’s been the agency’s practice for several years to notify him when it’s working in the area.

“I sure wish her office would reach out to me,” said Carr. “In Wyoming, I’m used to having face-to-face conversations, and I’d be glad to do that with the representative rather than this spread of misinformation.”

He said he was grateful for the chance to speak out on the controversy, since he’s received numerous emails on the issue since Hageman’s newsletter was sent out.

Hageman’s office did not respond by publication time to emails requesting comment.

48 Hours

The issue revolves around administrative detainers, or ICE requests for the sheriff’s office to hold potential illegal immigrants for 48 hours, so that federal agents can retrieve them.  

Unless signed by a judge, magistrate or clerk, these detainers are not binding upon the local sheriff, according to a 2014 court case in a different jurisdiction, Galarza v. Szalczyk. People can sue the sheriff for holding them too long.

Carr said he alerts ICE when there may be an illegal immigrant who is up for release from his jail or who may make bond soon. But if the local ICE agents, based out of Casper, don’t come and get the inmate by the time he makes bond or is released, it’s too late by his standards, said Carr.

For example, if the judge’s release order comes down on hour 40, Carr considers that to be more binding than ICE’s administrative request for eight more hours of detention, he said.

“I don’t feel comfortable doing that,” said Carr.

He said the judge’s release order usually arrives near the end of that 48-hour deadline anyway, and he doesn’t want to risk a Fourth Amendment lawsuit against his county.

“Those lawsuits are not cheap, (for) violating somebody’s Fourth Amendment rights,” said Carr. “This has been a challenge for us for a long time.”

If ICE produces a detainer or a warrant that is signed by a judge, magistrate or court clerk, however, Carr said he will hold the person for the agency whether the inmate has met his bond threshold or not.

Bigger Than Them

Carr said he works well with the two ICE agents who operate out of Casper. But he’s had the sense that they’ve been less motivated to retrieve foreign nationals out of Jackson under the administration of President Joe Biden, he said.

“I’ve seen that shift happen with the prior Trump administration,” he said. “I don’t know if their budgets have been slashed, I don’t know.”

Carr said he’s curious to see whether the agents grow more active under a second Trump administration.

ICE did not comment by publication time, though the agency did direct Cowboy State Daily to its rules on detainers.

Agency To Agency

John Fabbricatore, who served prior as ICE’s senior executive director for Colorado and Wyoming, said sheriff’s offices have been hesitant to hold people for ICE detainers since the American Civil Liberties Union started suing smaller sheriff’s departments over it.

“Many sheriff’s departments backed off of (that issue) because they didn’t want to be sued further, and they couldn’t afford to be sued,” said Fabbricatore. “Because many of the sheriff’s departments the ACLU sued were small.”

But typically, sheriff’s offices in “red areas,” or Republican states like Wyoming, tend to work better with ICE because their state attorneys general are willing to back them if it comes to a lawsuit, he said.  

Fabbricatore also emphasized how important it is for sheriff’s offices to tell ICE when they’re anticipating the release of a potential illegal immigrant, to give the agency extra time to retrieve them.

South Of Here

The Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office doesn’t have the same liability worries as Carr, because its jail serves as an ICE detention center. The sheriff can transfer people from county to ICE custody without having to move them at all.

Sweetwater County Sheriff John Grossnickle said he works well with the ICE agents out of Casper and has “never had an issue.” The agents tend to notify his people when they’re working in town and work with them, he added.

“I think there’s probably another side (to this),” said Grossnickle.

Jason Mower, Sweetwater County Sheriff’s spokesman, echoed the thought.

“I know (this issue is) not just Sheriff Carr rubbing it in somebody’s face, or not doing what (he’s) supposed to be doing,” he said. “There’s got to be a miscommunication or some other piece all of us are missing.”

Fabbricatore said if that’s the case, it’s unfortunate ICE was not able to comment by deadline. He attributed it to the Biden Administration, which he worked under for two years before his retirement.

Being non-transparent “is not good, because media is going run to a story whether you comment or not — and it’s important to be able to tell (ICE’s) side of the story,” said Fabbricatore. “It’s to the benefit of citizens to know exactly why something is happening.”

Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.