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The county jail will now hold detainees requested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, including cases without a judicial warrant, for up to 48 hours.
The move from Teton County Sheriff Matt Carr backtracks on a previous commitment not to honor detainer requests from ICE.
Though the policy brings Teton County in line with many other counties in the rest of the state, honoring ICE requests is not a standard in many counties across the country and illegal in some states.
Carr had only honored requests to hold undocumented immigrants for the federal agency if there was a warrant signed by a judge. He defended the policy last year citing concerns about violating constitutional rights if he held anyone longer than what the crime called for.
He later faced scrutiny from lawmakers after reporting from the Cowboy State Daily framed that policy as letting “illegal immigrants slip away.”
The sheriff’s department announced the change in a March 6 press release, citing a recent meeting with federal officers about the legality of the requests.
Carr did not return requests for comment by press time.
Holding detainees at the county jail for an extended time gives the federal agency more time to pick up individuals, often before sending them to an out-of-state detention center to await a deportation hearing.
The Wyoming Chapter of the ACLU finds the decision worrisome.
The civil rights organization’s advocacy director, Antonio Serrano, said via email that he’s concerned Carr’s “change of heart could harm public safety and lead to serious legal liabilities for Teton County.”
Serrano added that sheriffs are also not required to participate in immigration enforcement.
Representative Martha Lawley introduced a bill during the legislative session last month that would have gone a step farther and mandated partnerships between local law enforcement and ICE.
The Wyoming Association of Sheriffs and Chiefs of Police urged against the bill, which ultimately failed, given the financial strain local departments would incur from becoming de facto ICE agents.
Immigration enforcement has traditionally been the role of federal agencies, not local government.
