Gallatin County residents press commissioners to reject housing ICE detainees, cite due‑process and liability concerns

Dozens of residents and local attorneys urged the Gallatin County Commission on May 6, 2025, to reject any negotiation to allow U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to house detainees in the county detention center, saying the move would risk residents' due process rights and expose the county to legal and medical liabilities.

Speakers described what they said were recent national and regional practices by ICE — including detentions without clear charges, cancelled visas and detainees moved long distances — and asked commissioners not to pursue a new memorandum of agreement. "This opens us to some serious legal liabilities," said Liana Bertelsen, a long‑time Gallatin County resident. "We're being asked to turn our community into an extension of a federal agency whose recent actions have demonstrated a disturbing disregard for due process, human dignity, and basic decency."

The comments included a range of concerns: attorneys who…