Johnson County Supervisor: Enforcing immigration laws is job of federal government

JOHNSON COUNTY - The way Kurt Friese sees it, residents of Johnson County, regardless of immigration status, should feel safe speaking with and reporting crimes to local law enforcement officials.

Friese, a member of the county's Board of Supervisors, is author of a resolution, discussed during a work session Wednesday, that would take a stand against using county resources to aid in federal immigration enforcement efforts.

Iowa City officials, in January, passed a similar measure that stops short of making Iowa City a sanctuary city.

The resolution comes as U.S. immigration authorities have begun arresting undocumented immigrants in a series of raids as part of President Donald Trump's Jan. 25 order to crack down on the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the country illegally.

Officials said the raids target known criminals, but they also have netted some immigrants without criminal records. Trump has substantially broadened the scope of who the Department of Homeland Security can target to include those with minor offenses or no convictions at all.

The president has pledged to deport as many as 3 million undocumented immigrants with criminal records.

The Board of Supervisors plans to again discuss Friese's resolution during a work session set for 1 p.m. Tuesday, before the board's regular meeting at 5:30 p.m. in the second floor boardroom of the Johnson County Administration Building, 913 S. Dubuque St. in Iowa City.

The five-member board is expected to vote on the resolution during its regular meeting.

On Wednesday, board members directed Friese to tweak the resolution with the hope of emphasizing the document is the board's position on immigration policy rather than one directing other elected county officials, such as the Sheriff's Office, how to handle issues related to immigration. Departments like the Sheriff's Office could be asked in the future to help with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement - or ICE - efforts.

'I just don't want to get in a position where we're making promises we can't keep, said Supervisor Rod Sullivan. 'I think that's not a good idea to give people a false sense of security.”

Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek was not at Wednesday's work session, but he has said in the past he is not interested in having his office be involved in federal immigration enforcement efforts. Just last week, he reiterated that stance as investigators struggled to connect with potential witnesses in the case of a body found in the Iowa River near the Hills Access campground on Feb. 16.

On Friday, the woman was identified as Darling Yosseli Acosta River, 30, of Iowa City.

'We know that people are not answering the door when we're standing at them,” Pulkrabek said, noting his firm belief that the reason why is potential witnesses are likely concerned the line of questioning could turn to their own immigration status.

'The Sheriff's Office does not enforce immigration laws,” he said in a news release. 'That is the responsibility of the federal authorities. The Sheriff's Office is not interested in a person's immigration status.”

In December, Pulkrabek told The Gazette his office cooperates with ICE, sharing information with the agency daily and informing agents when an inmate is set for release.

But, he said, in 2014, his office shifted its policies on ICE detainer requests - that the agencies no longer would keep an inmate in custody after he or she had been ordered released, posted bail or served their sentence, without having a court order from a judge.

'If they want to greet someone when they get out, so be it,” Pulkrabek said at the time. 'We're not going to inhibit them from doing their job. We're going to do what the law says.”

Pulkrabek could not be reached by The Gazette to comment for this story. Supervisors suggested inviting him, or a representative from his office, to Tuesday's work session.

When all is said and done, Supervisor and Board Chairwoman Janelle Rettig said she wants a clear statement from the county.

'I think we should be very clear that if the federal government wants to enforce immigration laws, that's their business not ours,” she said. 'County employees have another job to do and they shouldn't be out there on work duty and I think we should make that statement.”

- The Washington Post contributed to this story

TEXT OF RESOLUTION'S FIRST DRAFT

'Resolution Reaffirming the Public Safety Function of Johnson County Law Enforcement,”

WHEREAS, Johnson County devotes resources to law enforcement for the purpose of assuring the safety of all persons who reside in or visit our community; and

WHEREAS, the power to regulate immigration is exclusive to the federal government and the enforcement of immigration law is a function of the federal government that currently resides with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of the Department of Homeland Security; and

WHEREAS, no federal law compels the County Sheriff's Office to participate in the enforcement of federal immigration law and any such requirement would raise significant anti-commandeering issues under the Tenth Amendment to the

Constitution of the United States; and

WHEREAS, for as long as the County remember, the Johnson County Sheriff's Office has not been involved in the enforcement of federal immigration law; and,

WHEREAS, any perception that the Sheriff's Office is involved in the enforcement of immigration law will undermine the deputy-community relationships that have been built up over the years, and thereby undermine the ability of the office

to keep the community safe; and,

WHEREAS, it is essential to public safety that every person, regardless of immigration status, who is a victim of or a witness to a crime feels comfortable reporting crimes or aiding in the investigation of crimes.

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, BY THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF JOHNSON COUNTY, IN THE STATE OF IOWA:

1. The Board supports the position of the Sheriff's Office, to wit: 'The Johnson County Sheriff's Office-Jail will not maintain custody of a subject(s) requested for a hold/detainer placed by DHS ICE-IMMIGRATION DETAINER-NOTICE OF ACTION FORM. The subject(s) currently on request for us to maintain custody will be released once the local/state/federal criminal charges are completed. Jail staff will cooperate with DHS requests for information.”

2. Further, the Board supports the position of the Sheriff's Office that they will not undertake any law enforcement action for the purpose of detecting the presence of undocumented persons or devote any public resources to the enforcement of federal immigration law.

3. This resolution addresses the discretionary use of legal county resources and does not:

(i) Prohibit, or in any way restrict, any official or employee of Johnson County from sending to or receiving from ICE information regarding the citizenship or immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual (8 U.S. C. Section 1373);

(ii) Affect or limit the enforcement of federal immigration law by federal authorities within Johnson County;

(iii) Affect or limit ICE's Priority Enforcement Program (f/k/a Secure Communities) whereby all fingerprints of adults arrested, or juveniles taken into custody, for a crime other than a simple misdemeanor are automatically included in the federal automated fingerprint identification system and cross checked against the ICE database, such that ICE is notified of that person's arrest and detention in the jail; or

(iv) In any way condone, encourage or assist the violation of federal law which makes it a crime for any person to, 'knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien has come to, entered, or remains in the United States in violation of law, conceal, harbor, or shield from detection, such alien in any place, including any building or any means of transportation.” (8 U.S. C. Section 13 24).