Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Safety Immigration topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Sheriff: ICE detainers sought only for index/violent crimes; county will cooperate with federal partners
Summary
Kewaunee County Sheriff said deputies do not query immigration status or refer routine nonviolent arrests to ICE; detainers for violent or index crimes are forwarded and honored, and the sheriff said ICE lacks capacity to process nonviolent cases.
Sheriff Joske told the county board that Kewaunee County’s jail and deputies have not changed longstanding practices: the sheriff said the county contacts Immigration and Customs Enforcement only in cases involving index or violent crimes and that ICE decides whether to place a detainer.
“Only if they have been arrested for a violent crime, for an index crime,” Joske said. “We do not nor does ICE want us to” refer routine nonviolent arrests for immigration enforcement, he added, noting resource limits at the federal agency.
The exchange arose during a safety-committee question about how the county handles people in custody whom staff or officials believe are in the country without authorization. A supervisor asked whether the county contacts ICE when someone held in jail appears to be undocumented. Joske responded that the jail’s practice—contacting ICE for violent/index crimes and otherwise processing individuals like any other arrestee—has been used “for decades.” He said the sheriff’s office will cooperate with state and federal partners when they request assistance and will honor detainers when ICE issues them.
Joske urged the board to separate “emotion from the reality,” saying deputies will not proactively detain people based on status alone and that the office’s focus is on threats to community safety. “We support all of our state and federal law enforcement agencies. We're gonna continue to collaborate with them,” he said.
His comments included an account that he had met with ICE to seek clarity on local procedures and that federal partners are prioritizing “high level violent criminal elements” for enforcement. The sheriff said the jail does not have the capacity to hold and process every person suspected of being in the country without authorization and that routine interaction with people who live and work in the community will not change.
No formal policy change was announced during the meeting.
