Hageman alleges Teton County sheriff's 'foiling ICE's efforts'

JACKSON - Wyoming's sole representative in the U.S. House, Republican Rep. Harriet Hageman, singled out Teton County's sheriff in a Sunday newsletter with allegations that his office is "foiling" Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Teton County Sheriff Matt Carr told the Jackson Hole Daily on Monday that Hageman's newsletter to constituents incited a swarm of "real nasty" emails and phone calls over the weekend.

But he said Hageman never reached out to his office about her concerns.

"It's just scary how this misinformation can be put out there," he said.

Carr said his office continues to work closely with ICE, including reporting every arrest of any "foreign national" and adhering to any detainment requests ordered by a judge.

Hageman painted a different picture in her newsletter.

"My team learned just last week that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement recently conducted an operation in Teton County," Hageman said in an email sent out to constituents.

But Carr countered Monday that he is not aware of any recent ICE operations in Teton County. ICE agrees to notify the sheriff's office of their presence in the county for officer safety and possible assistance, Carr said.

Hageman's newsletter also alleges: "There were scores of individuals being held in the county jail who met the agency's threshold for being detained and deported [DUIs, illicit drugs, sexual violence]. 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."

Although Hageman's office did not reach out to the Teton County sheriff, her newsletter promised that her office would continue to stay engaged on the issue "and work with the new administration to ensure compliance with federal immigration laws."

Hageman's office did not respond to a request for comment by press time Monday.

Steve Kotecki, public affairs officer for the ICE Denver Field Office overseeing Wyoming, said his office couldn't comment until early next week due to the holiday.

However, a June 2024 report on enforcement and removal operations listed Teton County Jail as a non-cooperative institution in "detainer acceptances."

But Carr said his office does cooperate with ICE and pointed to ICE's procedures - particularly skipping a judge's signature - as a key problem with "detainer" requests.

When the Teton County Sheriff's Office arrests a "foreign national," the Sheriff's Office notifies ICE by forwarding booking information, fingerprints and asking for identification assistance if the individual has no documentation. The Sheriff's Office also facilitates interviews between ICE and undocumented individuals who have been arrested.

A "detainer" or "ICE hold document" only comes into play after undocumented individuals have been adjudicated by a judge of their local crimes and released. Carr noted the Teton County Sheriff's Office has no authority to release people after they're arrested; the order comes from a judge.

Once the judge orders an undocumented individual's release, ICE has three options, he explained.

ICE can come get the person "right from our jail when the judge releases them," he said. Or ICE can "do nothing and ignore the situation because they're not interested in the person, or it's a misdemeanor crime that they don't feel like they want to follow up on," he said.

A third option is to issue a "detainer."

"If that detainer is signed by a judge, clerk or magistrate, we will honor that detainer and hold them beyond their local charges for a reasonable amount of time for ICE to come get them," Carr said.

Typically, Carr receives a detainer request at least once a week from ICE, but there's been a "significant uptick in those since the election," he said. He didn't know why.

"I think the rub is they often give those detainers, but they don't get them signed by a judge," he said.

Instead, the documents are signed by an immigration officer. Carr said the legal advice given to him is it's not a valid document at that point.

Carr compared that approach to a sheriff's deputy showing up at a suspect's house with a search or arrest warrant wanting to take the individual into custody. But instead of having a warrant signed by a judge - making it legally binding - the deputy signs the warrant, Carr said, giving a hypothetical example.

The most recent ICE detainer Carr adhered to was a month ago.

"If they get a judge's signature, I will hold them all day, every day," Carr said. "We still operate under the Constitution of the United States of America, and I think that's something that should resonate with Hageman's office."

This story was published on November 26, 2024.