Federal immigration enforcement officials threatened to file criminal charges against Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart if he failed to comply with subpoenas asking his office to turn over detainees who were held at Cook County Jail.
Matt Walberg, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office, said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement sent the two subpoenas last month, along with letters threatening Dart.
The New York Times first reported that ICE had threatened to charge Dart and Dawanna S. Witt, the sheriff in Minnesota’s Hennepin County, which includes Minneapolis.
The counties they represent were both rocked by deportation campaigns carried out during President Donald Trump’s second term.
The administration’s tactics shifted after immigration enforcement agents fatally shot two American citizens in Minneapolis, prompting outrage and calls for reform. But the letters indicate the feds are still focused on Chicago and Minneapolis, which are so-called sanctuary cities that don’t cooperate with civil immigration enforcement.
The sheriff’s office initially received a subpoena for a person who had already been released from the county jail, Walberg said. The second subpoena demanded the sheriff’s office allow a detainee to attend an interview at ICE’s offices, or to “bring the person over to the office whenever this person was released.”
Walberg said the sheriff’s office is required to keep detainees in custody and can’t release them for interviews with other law enforcement agencies or turn them over when they’re released.
Sheriff Witt issued a statement saying the threats of prosecution she received “will not cause me to abandon my legal responsibilities or disregard constitutional protections. My focus remains on doing my job lawfully and not responding to political pressure or intimidation.”
Witt’s spokeswoman, Rebecca Aurelious, said the office also received subpoenas for detainees who had already been released from custody.
A U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said it’s common practice to subpoena local law enforcement officials who “refused to cooperate with federal immigration authorities and detainers.” The spokesperson said the tactic had also been used during Trump’s first term.
“We’re continuing these efforts as sanctuary politicians refuse to hand over the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens,” the spokesperson said. “Non-cooperative jurisdictions have a choice: stop harboring criminal illegal aliens and releasing them into their communities, or work with ICE to make America safe again.
“Either way, ICE will not be slowing down on enforcing federal law.”