A pair of bills that would make Wyoming’s sheriffs partner with federal immigration agencies whether they want to or not are now pending in the Wyoming Legislature.
Even sheriffs who work well with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) aren’t happy about it.
As introduced, House Bill 276, would require every county sheriff in Wyoming to strike a federal contract to enforce immigration detentions and removals. It would strip state money from any sheriffs offices that didn’t comply.
Senate File 124 also would require each sheriff to establish a federal immigration contract. And it would impose that same requirement on the Wyoming attorney general.
It would penalize people for hiring illegal immigrants; would require every employer in the state to ask about a potential employee’s immigration status before hiring him; would require the employer to report an illegal immigrant employee to ICE; and would require police officers to ask every person they cite or arrest about his immigration status.
SF 124 also would penalize people for concealing, harboring or transporting illegal aliens.
Whoa, Now
Several sheriffs who spoke to Cowboy State Daily on Thursday– including four who are already working to strike or expand ICE contracts – decried the bill as an attempt at state overreach into local elected officials’ domains.
“There’s an issue with both (bills),” Campbell County Sheriff Scott Matheny told Cowboy State Daily.
Matheny works well with ICE and has been negotiating a contract to hold immigration-law violators in his jail for periods longer than two days.
But ICE contracts aren’t universally feasible, and every sheriff should get to decide what his own county can accomplish, he said.
“I don’t like people telling us what we need to do,” said Matheny. “There are some small-town, understaffed sheriffs’ agencies that are going to have issues if you make them do stuff they don’t have the manpower to do.”
Like Niobrara County
The Niobrara County Sheriff’s Office has four deputy positions. If Sheriff Randy Starkey sent two deputies to immigration enforcement training, he’d be down by half his department for six weeks, he noted Thursday.
“That would be a financial burden on Niobrara County,” he said.
One type of intergovernmental ICE contract essentially deputizes local agents to handle immigration investigations, thus the six-week training. Another turns a local jail into an ICE detention center.
Neither proposed bill specifies which of these sheriffs would have to adopt, or if they’d have to strike a different sort of federal contract.
Starkey’s office does not have an ICE contract in place but works closely with the agency and honors its detainer requests, he said.
Well, OK
Sen. Cheri Steinmetz, R-Lingle, is the lead sponsor of SF 124.
She spoke with Allen Thompson, executive director of the Wyoming Association of Sheriffs and Chiefs of Police, on Thursday, Steinmetz told Cowboy State Daily in a Thursday text message.
Steinmetz indicated she may be flexible about the contents of her bill.
“We are working on it with (the law enforcement community) and hopefully we can get a bill everybody can support,” she said.
Steinmetz touted the bill’s general intent in an earlier interview with the outlet, saying it’s “intended to send a clear message (that) Wyoming stands for lawful immigration, strong borders, and a secure future for all of its citizens.”
“President (Donald) Trump outlined a decisive border policy in his inaugural address. I will review his executive order and policies so that we can seamlessly align the Senate file 124 with his direction for the country,” said Steinmetz.
Wyoming is often perceived as remote and insulated, she continued, but it is not immune from the impacts of illegal immigration.
For Wyoming, the stakes could be even higher than in other states because Wyoming’s critical infrastructure includes military, power, dam and water systems – making the state “a potential target for terrorist activity,” she added.
It’s important to work with local law enforcement to deal with illegal immigration, Steinmetz said, which is “one of my top priorities this legislative session.”
See What The Feds Do
Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak and Sweetwater County John Grossnickle, in separate interviews, also characterized the bills as overreach.
Kozak is working on ICE contracts and Grossnickle has had one in place for about six years. Encouraged by what looks like support and defense of the programs from the federal government, Grossnickle is working to expand his partnership with the agency.
If the contract bills became law as written, they could put sheriffs in a difficult position balancing state and federal funding alongside the immigration policing initiatives, Grossnickle said in a Thursday email statement.
He also said there’s “still considerable uncertainty” about what the federal government expects from local agencies, though recent conversations with ICE leave him optimistic the agency is addressing that.
Some Changes
Kozak said Wyoming law enforcers will likely lobby the legislature to amend the bills. For example, the sheriff said the Wyoming Association of Sheriffs and Chiefs of Police (WASCOP) plans to ask lawmakers to change the part of SF124 that would make cops ask everyone they cite or arrest about their immigration status. The new language Kozak described would have agents ask people about their immigration status if they have an articulable suspicion the person is in the country illegally.
“We don’t see the need to ask every single person we have contact with,” he said.
Often, Wyoming law enforcement officers are citing or arresting people they already know, Kozak noted.
Another part of that bill says agencies must detain illegal immigrants until ICE or the U.S. Department of Homeland Security takes custody of them.
More favorable language would address what happens if the federal government never takes custody of someone, Kozak said with a laugh.
Similarly, better language would address what Wyoming sheriffs are supposed to do if ICE doesn’t want to strike contracts with them, the sheriff added.
Thompson confirmed that WASCOP is planning these approaches in his own, later interview with Cowboy State Daily. He also said he is seeking more input from sheriffs before deciding on other changes, and whether to lobby against the bills altogether.
“We’re just trying to make (these processes) realistic,” said Thompson, adding that Wyoming sheriffs do take immigration issues seriously.
Meeting With ICE Five Minutes Ago
Carbon County Sheriff Alex Bakken had a meeting with ICE agents five minutes before his Thursday interview, he said.
He’s working on contracts with the agency that would let his deputies use immigration warrants, and that would permit his jail to hold ICE detainees longer than 48 hours.
Bakken’s concern with bills mandating contracts like these is that, though the contracts look helpful to him now, he can’t vouch for future federal administrations or future contract terms, he said.
“They may totally change the parameters of (this) program, and if we’re statutorily required to take part in it – and if we can’t comply we’ll be on the hook to possibly lose funding – that’s not fun for anyone,” said Bakken.
Platte County Sheriff David Russell said his office has long had a program in place letting his jail hold illegal immigrants for the federal government. He echoed other sheriffs’ disapproval of the proposed bills.
The Unique One In The Mountains
Teton County Sheriff Matt Carr does not work as well with ICE as other Wyoming sheriffs, with the federal agency reporting that Carr’s office doesn’t honor its detainer requests.
Carr, conversely, has said ICE’s detainer requests don’t offer enough assurance against violating someone’s rights, for him to comply with them without a judge’s order.
Carr sent a terse and neutral comment Friday, saying his office is monitoring the legislative session and will stay abreast of any policy changes resulting from new laws.
The Bill With The Money-Stripping Provision
The chief sponsor of HB276, Rep. Martha Lawley, R-Worland, pushed back slightly on concerns surrounding it, saying ICE agreements are beneficial to the counties and state in addressing immigration issues.
“This policy aligns with the new (federal) administration’s immigration policies that emphasize cooperation with counties and states to address the immigration issue,” said Lawley in a Thursday text message. “I understand some counties’ resistance, but I believe it is important that Wyoming join in the efforts of our new President to address the serious problem of illegal immigration.”
With respect to some sheriffs’ concern that they don’t have the manpower or the facility specs to see the contracts through, Lawley said it’s been her understanding that federal immigration contracts are negotiated with each county while taking into account their existing resources.
“There are some services that the federal government reimburses for,” Lawley added.
Wouldn’t Do This For The ATF
Rep. Mike Yin, D-Jackson, questioned the bills’ entire method.
“Why would we give up negotiating power with the federal government? I don’t understand,” he told Cowboy State Daily on Thursday. “Like if we tell our sheriffs they have to do it, that gives the federal government leverage to ask for whatever they want.”
Wyoming wouldn’t require its county sheriffs to strike contracts with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, for example, he added.
“Why are we trusting (one federal agency) to act in our best interests here?” he asked.
In an earlier interview and referencing SF 124’s mandate that sheriffs detain people until federal agents retrieve them, Yin said the state should be careful not to impose laws that would violate the Constitution.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com and Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
