Minnesota, United States — Several local law enforcement agencies are now collaborating with ICE to identify and, in some cases, arrest immigrants scheduled for deportation.
The Trump administration has made a major push to locate and deport illegal immigrants. In January, President Donald Trump issued an executive order that expanded state and local agencies’ ability to assist ICE. Since then, hundreds of state and local law enforcement agencies nationwide have signed agreements with ICE.
According to the website of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), five Minnesota sheriff’s offices have recently signed agreements with the agency.
The counties on the list are Cass, Crow Wing, Freeborn, Itasca, and Jackson. The Freeborn and Jackson County sheriffs have entered into ‘Warrant Service’ agreements.
According to ICE, these officers will be trained to assist ICE in carrying out immigration warrants in their respective counties. Jackson County also reached a ‘Jail Enforcement’ agreement.
According to local immigration attorneys, this type of agreement gives local officers more authority to question and interrogate detainees while in custody.
According to Julia Decker of the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, the third type of agreement, the ‘Task Force Agreement,’ will grant local officers more enforcement authority, potentially allowing officers to report people to ICE following traffic stops and other interactions.
According to the ICE website, Cass, Crow Wing, and Itasca counties have all recently signed ‘Task Force’ agreements with ICE.
“We are just seeing this very rampant and broad expansion of ways the administration wants to try to bring people into detention and deportation,” Decker informed us. “It’s all very much in flux right now.”
Decker explained that adding these counties to the list does not guarantee increased immigration activity or enforcement. Local sheriffs may be taking advantage of new training opportunities made available after the president issued an executive order in January.
However, she is concerned about the message this sends to immigrant communities.
“People who are immigrants who have been victims of crime or may have been witnesses to crime may be less willing or less safe to report those crimes, so there is possibly a public safety consequence,” Decker reported.