ICE ranks Franklin County Iowa a top 10 jurisdiction for detainers issued: "It's Wrong"

By: 
Ethan Stoetzer

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    A recent report by the U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement Agency (ICE) ranked Franklin County Iowa a top 10 jurisdiction for detainers issued by the federal agency within the dates of Jan. 28, 2017 and Feb. 3, 2017, with five detainers issued.
    For reference, ICE may issue detainers to jurisdictions (a legal term for cities, counties and communities that enact policies) when the jurisdiction submits an Immigration Alien Query (IAQ) to the agency. During an investigation within a jurisdiction, if a law enforcement individual suspects that a suspect entered the country illegally or overstayed their visa, he or she fills out an IAQ to alert ICE. ICE then has the option to conduct preliminary investigations on the suspect, and if the agency is suspicious of the suspect, will issue a detainer to hold the suspect for an additional 48 hours after the suspect has completed the conviction process within the jurisdiction. 
    The report’s list for top 10 jurisdictions to receive detainers over a given week, only ranks jurisdictions that have policies that do not comply with ICE requests — “sanctuary cities/ counties/ jurisdictions.”
    But upon closer review of the report, the details don’t quite hold up.
    The report, the first of its kind to be issued, states that in the week of Jan. 28, 2017 through Feb. 3, 2017, ICE issued five detainers to Franklin County. Larson said that his office has received just five total detainers since Jan. 1, 2017. One of the detainers, said Larson, was followed up and the suspect was let go. Four detainers are currently enacted, and will go into effect after the four suspects complete the process of their criminal charges in the county.
    “We had eight people in jail in that [week],” Franklin County Sheriff Linn Larson said. “Eight people, and not one IAQ was run in that time period.”
    To note, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office changed policy in early February 2017, to communicate with federal agencies (such as ICE) in regards to suspects in custody involved in crimes, believed to have entered the country illegally, or overstayed a visa.
    This policy is a change from former Sheriff Larry Richtsmeier’s policy, which didn’t mandate communication with such agencies. However, Richtsmeier enacted that policy in 2014, after several court cases involving ICE detainers across the country were heavily publicized by the American Civil Liberties Union. Policy has flipped to both sides over the last decade.
    “It’s wrong,” Larson said. “At face value, it’s fake. I don’t know how you want to state it; either it’s the wrong state connected with the county, or the whole thing’s a mess.”
    The report, compiled of data gathered from regional ICE offices across the country, is part of President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 13768: Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States, section 9 b, that states:
    “To better inform the public regarding the public safety threats associated with sanctuary jurisdictions, the Secretary shall utilize the Declined Detainer Outcome Report or its equivalent and, on a weekly basis, make public a comprehensive list of criminal actions committed by aliens and any jurisdiction that ignored or otherwise failed to honor any detainers with respect to such aliens.”
    The report has garnered the attention of the national media, airing on Sean Hannity’s program on Fox News, national radio stations and the Des Moines Register, due to which locations made the list, as well as the continued commitment by the Trump Administration’s enforcement of repercussions of illegal immigration.
    The report does not clarify if jurisdictions filed these IAQs (the only way a detainer can be issued); it only states that ICE issued such detainers. It does state, “Consistent with these counties’ policies, ICE expects these detainers to reflect as declined in Section II of future weekly reports.”
    “It’s kind of odd,” Larson said. “Why would I start the process if I was going to deny the request.”
    The report assumes that Franklin County — even if the numbers were to be correct — ignored those detainers, citing the policy in 2014 as the reason why. Since Larson had been in office in 2017, no such denials occurred.
    When asked about the discrepancies in the report and the data held by Larson, Shawn Neudauer, Public Affairs out of the ICE St. Paul, Minnesota Field Office, said that the dispute is between the sheriff and the regional office.
    “I stand by the report,” Neudauer said. “If the sheriff has an issue, he can call the regional field office. If the sheriff has a problem with the numbers, that’s between the sheriff and operations people at that field office. For the media, ICE is standing by the report.”
    When asked for a contact to discuss the discrepancies at such office, Neudauer, denied access, stating, “Until I hear otherwise, the report is accurate. I have been asked a number of different times, I checked with ICE in Washington (D.C.). I don’t know what the method is for the data, but that’s for the sheriff and the regional office to work out.”
    The report’s section II goes on to list the jurisdictions that released individuals who had detainers issued for them — and the crimes they committed, but were denied and released by the jurisdiction. Travis County Jail, Texas, had over 100 detainers ignored, yet did not make the top ten list, while Franklin County Iowa had five detainers issued, no results of the detainers, and was ranked ninth on the list.
    “I refer to it as poison fruit,” Larson said. “If one is bad then the whole thing is bad.”
    Montgomery County, Iowa is also on the list with 12 detainers issue. Larson said that Franklin and Montgomery are contesting the results, meaning going on record to say that the results are wrong.
    This report by ICE will be released weekly. It has yet to be determined if Franklin or any other counties on the list, will remain there in future reports.

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