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Residents urge Curry County commissioners to reconsider sheriff’s ICE agreement
Summary
Residents during public comment accused the sheriff of signing an ICE agreement without notice and warned it will erode public trust and harm immigrant families; county detention staff said ICE holds should not extend detention beyond authorized release and apply to people already charged with serious crimes.
Several Curry County residents used the commission’s public-comment period to press elected officials to reconsider recent cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, saying the agreement was signed without public notice and risks civil‑rights violations.
"I am here to talk about the gross overstep from Sheriff Brockett regarding the ICE agreement he signed without public knowledge a month ago," said Victoria Robledo, a Curry County resident, who described attempts to obtain information from the sheriff and said the department would execute “administrative warrants” she described as not issued by judges. "If someone's constitutional rights are violated, who will pay for the lawsuit? It's in the fine print. The taxpayers."
Others echoed Robledo. "Opening the door to ICE in Curry County is a bad idea," said Brennan Hogan, who described fears that ICE presence would stretch local resources and increase community anxiety. Gabriela Naya, who said she is an immigrant and now a U.S. citizen, told the commissioners that many Curry County residents are long‑time workers and taxpayers who would be driven into fear if local law enforcement cooperates with ICE.
Commissioners asked detention staff to clarify how ICE holds would be implemented. Miss Luhan, who presented the Curry County Detention Center’s May report, described the department’s protocol: "ICE only intends its detainers to notify law enforcement agencies that it plans to assume custody and request information about aliens and pending release. No individual is admitted or detained solely on the basis of ICE holds. Furthermore, no individual subject to an ICE hold shall be detained beyond the date and time of their otherwise authorized release date." She also said the agreement, as explained to the jail, was intended to apply to people already arrested and charged with criminal offenses who are in custody.
During the Q&A, officials and residents raised capacity and oversight concerns. Miss Luhan reported there were eight detainees with ICE holds at the time of the report and said those cases had serious local charges ranging from kidnapping to trafficking. Commissioners sought assurances the county would not hold people beyond authorized release dates in reliance on ICE requests.
The public comments did not prompt an immediate, formal policy change from the commission during this meeting. No vote or formal direction modifying the county's relationship with ICE was recorded on the agenda for this session. The commission took public testimony, received clarification from detention staff and proceeded with the rest of its agenda. The next scheduled commission meeting is 07/15/2025.
