For the residents who turned out to voice their concerns about Utah County’s partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Sheriff Mike Smith had this message: Not much will change.
The county commission approved memoranda of understanding for the Task Force and Warrant Service Officer models of 287(g) agreements at its July 16 meeting. These agreements have become increasingly popular in Utah in recent months, as they have across the country under President Donald Trump.
Under the Task Force model, some deputies will undergo ICE training. The program gives those trained officers the power to enforce certain immigration laws, but Smith said his staff will focus on high-level crimes.
“We target crime, and we will continue to target crime, but when we find out that you're coming under our purview and you are an illegal alien, well, that will also be addressed,” he said.
The Warrant Service Officer model applies to individuals who are already in the county jail. If an arrested individual enters the Utah County Jail, and it is later discovered they don’t have legal status, then the Sheriff’s Office would notify ICE. This already happens to roughly 100 people per month in the jail, and ICE officers pick up around 10 to 15 of those individuals, Smith said. The rest are released as normal.
“So what this model does is it really puts into an MOA something that we've already been doing, and we will continue to do,” Smith said, adding it’s not OK for people to enter the United States and commit crimes, regardless of their legal status.
Still, Smith said he’s not comfortable with ICE raids.
“I have assurance from ICE that those will not happen here,” he told the commission meeting. “But this is where I will make no excuses, and I won't be shamed for it. You're not going to change my mind. I'm here as your elected sheriff to keep the community members, whether they be legal people or illegal immigrants — I'm here to keep everybody safe.”
The commission opened the floor to the public. Speakers were allotted two minutes each and spoke for roughly three and a half hours combined. The vast majority opposed the agreements.
They expressed concerns with racial profiling, data sharing, the detention of immigrants with no criminal record and the fate of Venezuelans in Utah with Temporary Protected Status. They invoked their religious values of loving their neighbors and worried about having unidentified ICE agents in their neighborhoods.
Ellie Menlove, director of policy at the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah, said partnerships with ICE can erode immigrant communities’ trust in their local authorities.
“The Task Force Model agreement allows local law enforcement to perform immigration enforcement duties during things like police checkpoints or routine traffic stops, potentially casting a much wider net,” she said. “I'd like to ask how the Task Force Model will be cabined to only affect violent criminals.”
The sheriff stressed that ICE is already in the community carrying out its operations. He sees the agreements as a path to more open communication, not a smokescreen for racial profiling.
“This would be just a few of our deputies who are assigned to higher-level crimes that would have a collateral responsibility as they're investigating state and local crimes to identify if the person they're dealing with is in this country legally or not,” he said.
The issue was personal to Commissioner Amelia Powers Gardner. Her sister lived in the United States without citizenship until her 30s, she said, so she understands the fear some immigrants face.
“I may have blue eyes, but I have a brother who's been deported,” she said, noting he committed a crime and was then found to have been in the country illegally. She said she would sponsor a vote to break the contract if ICE violates its end of the agreement.
“We do need a process for complaints, and I am happy that the MOU can be broken at any time,” she said.
Gardner ultimately voted for the agreements after Smith said the changes won’t take effect for a year. The two other county commissioners also signed off.
Utah County joins six other counties and the state Department of Corrections in having completed or drafted an agreement with ICE.
Macy Lipkin is a Report for America corps member who reports for KUER in northern Utah.
