Members of the Wyoming Republican Party are so inspired by President Donald Trump’s efforts to sharply curtail illegal immigration in America that they want Wyoming to play a direct part in detaining immigrants before deportation.
On Saturday, the party passed a resolution calling for the opening of a federally funded U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Wyoming.
The resolution, which originated from the Lincoln County Republican Party, says the party is in full support of either having a detention center opened in Wyoming by refurbishing an existing facility or having a temporary one built in the state.
The resolution states that “this problem should be short-lived with the experience that the deportations are occurring.”
The measure passed on a 42-32 vote.
ICE uses more than 190 different facilities for detention across more than 40 states and U.S. territories. The nearest ICE facility to Wyoming is in Aurora, Colorado. According to the National Immigrant Justice Center, the states with the most people detained by ICE are Texas, Louisiana, California, Arizona and Georgia
Traditionally, people suspected of immigration-related crimes are picked up by ICE and transferred to Casper before being sent on to the facility in Colorado.
Carbon County GOP Vice Chair Joey Correnti pointed out that local law enforcement officers in Wyoming don’t determine someone’s immigration status and can only arrest someone if probable cause they’ve committed a criminal offense exists. People who get arrested for allegedly committing Wyoming crimes are then later determined to have immigration violations by federal law enforcement.
“If there is no place to put them, they stay in our county jails, further costing us resources,” Correnti said.
There haven’t been many illegal immigrants identified in Wyoming but recent gang activity in neighboring states has many Wyoming residents on edge about an issue that was previously not as large of a concern,
But Why Here?
Correnti pointed out that Wyoming likely has little say about whether an ICE detention center will be opened in the state or not, a decision made by ICE itself.
“Do you want it happening in your county jail or do you want to help and be involved in the process?” Correnti questioned. “It’s coming no matter what.”
Park County resident Nicole Forsberg supported the resolution and pointed out that if ICE doesn’t come to pick up a suspect quickly enough, they’ll be released from a Wyoming jail. She believes setting up a Wyoming ICE detention center would help resolve that issue.
“Let's get these people out of Wyoming, let’s get them where they need to be locked up and put away, and protect our communities,” she said.
Teton County Sheriff Matt Carr has come under scrutiny for a perception that he doesn’t work with ICE agents. Previously, Carr refused to hold onto inmates for federal immigration authorities without a criminal warrant.
In March, Carr had an about face, saying he will hold suspected illegal immigrants for up to 48 hours after their scheduled jail release date at ICE’s request and without a judge-signed warrant. Anything longer than 48 hours and the individual would be released.
Sweetwater County Sheriff John Grossnickle has taken a somewhat opposite approach, signing a memorandum of understanding with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to let him build an ICE task force with up to five of his own deputies, giving them the authorization to act as temporary immigration agents. This will allow Sweetwater to pick up ICE detainees in Teton County and bring them to Rock Springs for holding.
Deputy Jason Mower, spokesman for the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office, told the Gillette News Record last month his facility has been certified by ICE since 2020 to temporarily house federal detainees for 72 hours or longer, serving as a holding center until ICE agents pick these individuals up.
Some Opposition
Rowdy Dean, Uinta County GOP Chair and an investigations sergeant with his local sheriff’s office, said ICE previously courted his county about building a detention center prior to former President Joe Biden taking office.
Dean said ICE committed to taking care of the facility, but only as long as the federal government supported its use. In the event the government wants to get rid of the facility, Dean said matters could take a negative turn if the facility turns into a privately-run prison.
“The private prisons, they just let them out in your community, any criminal,” Dean said. “They can house anybody they want for profit and then turn those folks into your community.”
One female party member also spoke against the resolution, expressing doubt that anyone would actually want an ICE facility built in their own community.
Crook County GOP Chair Mark Koep expressed concern about what opening this type of facility in Wyoming would mean if a Democratic presidential administration takes over down the road, going as far as saying they would consider imprisoning conservatives there.
The resolution also calls for local sheriffs to form a “special missions unit(s)” to work with other agencies on illegal immigration in Wyoming. Michael Humphrey, a Lincoln County resident who helped draft the resolution, told Cowboy State Daily the purpose of this is to have a state-level version of the National Guard since the Wyoming National Guard is technically controlled federally.
"This is a multi-prong approach to addressing the massive influx of terrorists into our country," Humphrey said.
Fremont County GOP Chair Ginger Bennett successfully added an amendment to this part of the resolution expanding the special mission units to also include the Bureau of Indian Affairs, so that members of the MS-13 gang allegedly living on the Wind River Reservation could be held in ICE detention facilities.
Sheridan County GOP Chair James Temple supported the resolution, saying these gang members are also targeting the Crow Agency in southern Montana.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
