Wyoming Sheriffs Team Up With ICE To Fight Illegal Immigration

At least three sheriffs in Wyoming are working to help enforce immigration laws, now that a federal program that fizzled under President Joe Biden is expected to revive under a second Trump presidency.

The sheriff’s offices of Laramie, Sweetwater and Campbell counties all are seeking to strike or expand contracts with U.S. Immigration, Customs and Enforcement (ICE) in the coming weeks.

ICE has two provisions under its 287(g) program. One allows county jails to hold ICE detainees; another authorizes local sheriff’s deputies to investigate inmates booked on local crimes for suspected immigration violations.

The federal agency currently has 287(g) contracts with 75 law enforcement agencies in 11 states, including one with the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office, according to an ICE informational page.

But ICE hasn’t been establishing new contracts with local sheriffs under Biden, according to the National Immigration Project.

President-elect Donald Trump vowed days after his election victory to revive the voluntary program.

What The Wyoming Sheriffs Want

Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak is looking to land ICE contracts giving his agency both options: the ability to hold ICE detainees and to investigate immigration statuses of people already booked on local crimes, he told Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday.

Campbell County Sheriff Scott Matheny told the outlet Thursday that he’s pursuing the provision that would let his jail hold ICE detainees.

And Sweetwater County Sheriff John Grossnickle – who has had an ICE detention contract in place for nearly six years – seeks to expand that contract so his deputies can also investigate suspected immigration violations. 

All three agencies are in talks with the federal agency, the respective sheriffs said.

Just Down The Road

For Kozak, it would be nice to be able to hold accused immigration violators in the local jail since there’s a federal court just down the road, the sheriff said. He said he’s also working with the U.S. Marshal’s office on a contract letting him hold other kinds of federal detainees.

Not being able to jail people on federal warrants “causes a lot of issues, if they’re going to have a trial” at the federal court, said Kozak. “They can’t use our jail. They’re using Platte County (Detention Center) and Scottsbluff, Nebraska.”

That’s a lot of driving when an inmate is attending a weeklong federal trial in Cheyenne, the sheriff said. Cutting down on that could “free up our local immigration agents so they can focus on President Trump’s priorities and not have to be spending time coming to and from our jails,” he added.

As for the investigative provision, Kozak said he’s seeking that to help with Trump’s overall goal of enforcing immigration laws.

“We are taking this proactive step because we know ICE is going to be busy with other priorities,” said Kozak.

ICE did not respond by publication time Thursday to a request for comment sent via email Wednesday.

In The Works For Years

Grossnickle said he decided to land the detention agreement in 2019, right after he was elected. He sought to secure the investigative authority provision as well, but a few obstacles surfaced, he said.

The American Civil Liberties Union released a report claiming sheriffs participating in the federal program have records of “anti-immigrant, xenophobic rhetoric” – a claim that Jason Mower, Sweetwater County Director of Public Affairs, criticized as “totally bogus” with respect to the local sheriff.  

But the report made it clear to the sheriff’s office: the ACLU was looking to fight the program, and potentially those who participate in it.

Then the COVID-19 pandemic descended in early 2020, and the jail had a hard time staying open, let alone complicating its mission with new immigration-law powers, Mower said.

But with both the program and federal support for it reviving, it makes sense to expand it in Sweetwater County, Grossnickle added.

Mower clarified: “That doesn’t mean we’re going to have patrol deputies out taking enforcement action exclusively on the basis of suspected immigration status.” It will, rather, station two trained deputies at the jail who can investigate immigration status for inmates who are already booked on local charges.

Everything On Hold

Matheny said he started negotiations with ICE for a detention contract in either the late days of the Trump administration or the early days of the Biden administration.

“And then they put everything on hold,” he said. “A couple months ago, ICE called me up and said, ‘Are you still interested?’ I said ‘Yes.’” 

That contract is pending, Matheny said.

With the exception of the Teton County sheriff, Wyoming sheriffs generally will hold ICE detainees for up to 48 hours past their ordered release, to give ICE a chance to retrieve them. Becoming a contract ICE detention facility, as Matheny intends to do, lets the jail hold those inmates much longer.

“I think it’s important,” Matheny said. “People… need to go through the proper channels to get into our country.”

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