Five Minnesota sheriff’s offices reach immigration agreements with ICE

Five Minnesota sheriff’s offices have entered agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to have the authority to perform some immigration officer functions.

The Cass, Crow Wing, Freeborn, Itasca and Jackson county sheriff’s offices have agreements under Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act that allows ICE to delegate certain authorities. The agreements have taken place over the past month and a half.

The Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Office, whose agreement began last month, is in the form of a task force model. Sahan Journal, an online outlet that says it reports news for immigrants and “communities of color” in Minnesota and first covered the issue, quoted Crow Wing Sheriff Eric Klang as saying his office will only pursue immigration law enforcement with people committing serious crimes. Klang will reportedly steer clear of raids for that type of enforcement.

ICE will train four deputies for the task force, Sahan Journal said. Klang said he entered the agreement to “stay on top of cooperating with federal agencies.”

The sheriff has reportedly heard concerns about how, with ICE agreements, people could end up in custody without being criminally charged. He said his office won’t let that happen.

“We’re going to assist where they ask us to assist, but we’re not going to go rounding people up at beef farms or meet packing plants or Mexican restaurants,” the outlet quoted Kang as saying.

The Cass and Itasca sheriff’s offices also entered agreements in the form of task force models. ICE’s agreement with the Freeborn sheriff’s office is in the form of a warrant service officer program, through which the federal agency trains local deputies to execute warrants.

The Jackson sheriff’s office’s two agreements are in the form of a warrant service officer program and jail enforcement model, in which people who can be removed by the U.S. and are arrested by law enforcement agencies are processed.

A spokesperson for ICE said the agency recognizes the importance of its relationships with state and local law enforcement partners.

“ICE will continue to share information and coordinate operations with those partners in a way that best serves local needs and fulfills ICE’s important national security and public safety mission,” the spokesperson said.

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