'Something we're exploring'

With president-elect Donald Trump promising not only to crack down on immigration, but to begin mass deportation in the United States of undocumented immigrants, it appears Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is reaching out to local law enforcement regarding already existing programs.

According to Carbon County Sheriff Alex Bakken at the December 17 meeting of the Board of Carbon County Commissioners, ICE reached out to several state and local law enforcement agencies about the 287(g) program. Section 287(g) was added to the Immigration and Nationality Act through the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 under President Bill Clinton.

“What the 287(g) participation would entail, and this program is available to county agencies, is specialized training for deputies to execute ICE warrants,” said Bakken. “ICE contacts us on a regular basis, we inform them of who is in our population. If we have someone they want, they ask us to execute an ICE hold which is typically 48 hours.”

Bakken added that, if 48 hours pass and ICE has not arrived to pick up the individual, then the hold expires and they are released.

“To be clear, these are people who are already incarcerated in your jail. It’s not ‘Hey, we’re now prowling the streets looking for stuff.’ This would be the same type of thing as with anybody else with a federal or other warrant from any other law enforcement agency." ~ Commissioner Travis Moore, on 287(g) program

This appears to be a common practice among all counties in Wyoming. In November, however, Teton County was accused by Representative Harriett Hageman (R - Wyoming) of not working with ICE to hold any undocumented immigrants already in the county jail according to reporting from the Jackson Hole News&Guide. Teton County Sheriff Matt Carr told the News&Guide that he was not “foiling” ICE as claimed by Hageman. He further explained that he was following legal advice given to him in that detainers issued for undocumented immigrants were only valid if signed by a judge and not by an immigration officer.

The 287(g) program—the Warrant Service Officer program, specially—would train and authorize deputies of the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office to execute federal warrants on undocumented immigrants held in the county jail, according to the ICE website.

Another model, the Jail Enforcement Model, is “designed to identify and process removable noncitizens — with criminal or pending criminal charges — who are arrested by state or local law enforcement agencies” according to the ICE website.

According to the American Immigration Council, two other 287(g) programs were used by local law enforcement up until 2012. Once was the “task force model” which allowed officers deputized by ICE to question and arrest suspected undocumented immigrants in the course of their daily routine. A “hybrid model” combined the task force model and the jail enforcement model, allowing task force officers to initiate immigration processing and transfer undocumented immigrants subject to removal to jail officers deputized under 287(g). Both programs were discontinued in 2012.

“This is just something that we’re exploring. No decisions have been made. I just wanted to keep the Board [of Carbon County Commissioners] informed and see if there was any input or discussion or questions from the Board,” said Bakken. “Currently, the only county in Wyoming that utilizes this is Sweetwater County. In speaking with Sheriff [John] Grossnickle, he said it’s an easy program to facilitate and implement and the only problem they ever experienced was the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) making erroneous claims.”

“ICE contacts us on a regular basis, we inform them of who is in our population. If we have someone they want, they ask us to execute an ICE hold which is typically 48 hours.” ~ Sheriff Alex Bakken, on current agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement

In 2022, the ACLU released “License to Abuse: How ICE’s 287(g) Program Empowers Racist Sheriffs,” a report which claimed that a number of sheriffs partnering with ICE had “records of racism, abuse and violence.”

The 63-page report included only one mention of Sweetwater County in which it claimed the sheriff’s office had a history of civil rights violations and racial profiling, anti-immigrant statements and advocated for inhumane federal policies. The Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office disputed the report and claimed they were only included because Grossnickle signed a letter in 2021 to President Joe Biden asking him to halt illegal immigration, according to reporting from Wyoming Public Media.

“To be clear, these are people who are already incarcerated in your jail. It’s not ‘Hey, we’re now prowling the streets looking for stuff.’ This would be the same type of thing as with anybody else with a federal or other warrant from any other law enforcement agency,” said Commissioner Travis Moore. “Once a person is incarcerated somewhere, ‘You have this warrant from this three-letter agency and they’re coming to pick you up.’”

According to Bakken, there would be no changes to their current practice of working with ICE regarding undocumented immigrants in their jail population for unrelated crimes.

“ICE inquires only about individuals we already have in our custody for unrelated offenses, then we provide them with a list and they go down the list,” said Bakken.

All members of the Board of Carbon County Commissioners appeared to approve of Bakken moving forward with the 287(g) program.

“I think it’s a good idea. You read about how these people get back out and do naughty things. They’re not supposed to be here [in the United States] in the first place and they probably did something naughty to get in there [jail] in the first place,” said Commissioner John Espy. “If you’re going to be in our country illegally, at least play by our rules while you’re here.”

The next meeting of the Board of Carbon County Commissioners will be at 9 a.m. on January 7 at the Carbon Building-Courthouse Annex in Rawlins.