Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Wyoming sheriffs said performing ICE functions would have stretched local resources, eroded control.
Via Wyoming News Exchange
JACKSON — A leader in the hard-line Wyoming Freedom Caucus broke a tie vote Friday, killing a bill that would have required sheriffs to enforce federal immigration laws.
Rep. John Bear, R-Gillette, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee and formerly served as the head of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, cast the deciding vote, leading the committee to split 4-3 against the bill. He paused before voting no, giving no indication prior to the roll call of how he would land. In doing so, he strayed from typically unwavering support for anti-immigration bills in the Wyoming Legislature.
HB 276 is the first immigration-related bill to be thrown out this session. It would have cut counties off from state-administered federal funds if a sheriff’s office didn’t take on “immigration officer functions,” with few exceptions.
Teton County Sheriff Matt Carr called the proposal “problematic.” House Bill 276 would have required Wyoming sheriffs to work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency directed to detain immigrants as part of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation plan. If sheriffs chose not to sign agreements with ICE, the bill would have cut them off from state-administered federal law enforcement funds.
Carr was recently targeted by Wyoming lawmakers because of his office’s relationship with ICE. The sheriff told the News&Guide he was relieved the bill died.
“Everybody wants to point their finger at Teton County,” he said. “We’re very much in the majority. 98% of counties and sheriff’s offices do not have these agreements with ICE.”
But the bill didn’t die because Wyoming law enforcement wasn’t sympathetic with its aims. Instead, the state police lobby was concerned about incurring uncontrollable costs and limiting local deputies’ ability to respond to other community issues.
“The sheriffs wholeheartedly support the message of this bill,” said Allen Thompson, executive director of the Wyoming Association of Sheriffs and Chiefs of Police. “But we have serious concerns about the ability to provide yet another enhanced service by entering into these contracts.”
The law enforcement association was adamantly against the bill and called an emergency meeting to decide its position after finding out it was to go in front of the committee Friday instead of Monday. Only Thompson was able to testify, but Carr, who watched the meeting virtually, told the News&Guide he shared the association’s views.
Thompson told legislators that a very small percentage of the more than 3,000 counties in the United States enter into 287(g) agreements with ICE, the agreements that extend authority to enforce federal immigration law to local authorities. Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office is the only Wyoming county with an agreement.
“There is a reason for that, and it’s not because we somehow support illegal immigration,” Thompson testified Friday. “These agreements cost time and money. And most importantly, they incur manpower that many agencies just cannot incur.”
Six-week-long training programs are particularly onerous, he said.
There are two types of 287(g) programs: the Warrant Service Officer Program and the Jail Enforcement Model. Sweetwater County participates in the first, along with 74 other law enforcement agencies in 11 states, according to ICE.
That program allows federal immigration authorities to “train, certify and authorize state and local law enforcement officers to serve and execute administrative warrants” on undocumented noncitizens in their jails. Administrative warrants give ICE authority to arrest someone suspected of residing in the U.S. illegally and to begin to deport them.
In contrast, 60 law enforcement agencies in 16 states use the Jail Enforcement Model. It not only deputizes law enforcement officers, but allows them to interrogate suspected noncitizens and issue immigration detainers.
Detainers are administrative requests from ICE to hold a noncitizen for up to 48 hours after they have been released from custody, according to the American Immigration Council.
Some agencies in states such as Arizona and Florida participate in both programs.
Thompson said local law enforcement agencies receive no guarantee for financial support from ICE when entering into the 287(g) programs.
“That financial component is usually not the biggest problem,” he said. “But we see decreasing budgets on the horizon and no reduction of responsibilities in the community served by the sheriffs.”
Thompson and Rep. Trey Sherwood, D-Laramie, said if legislators forced county sheriffs to enter a 287(g) agreement, it could put them at a disadvantage at the bargaining table. Sherwood questioned if the bill would allow Wyoming law enforcement to fully leverage a good deal — and if it was in the best interest of Wyoming.
Legislators considered changes to the bill after hearing the concerns of the association. In lieu of the agreement, one change would have required Wyoming sheriffs to report the number of undocumented people they arrest and how many people they turn over to ICE. Another would have sunset the bill in 2029.
While some of the changes were made, the bill died 4-3 after only 30 minutes in front of the committee.
This story was published on January 29, 2025.