Minnesota sheriff faces lawsuit over deal to help ICE

Four Freeborn County residents are suing the county sheriff, arguing a deal with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain undocumented immigrants violates state law.

The lawsuit was filed Thursday with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota and its legal partners. It contends that local law enforcement does not have the authority to enforce federal immigration laws, even if an agency has a deal with the federal government.

It’s the second time in two days the ACLU has filed a lawsuit over immigration enforcement. A case filed Wednesday alleges ICE mistreats protesters and observers.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison made the same argument Dec. 12 in a legal opinion requested by Ramsey County Attorney John Choi. Ellison found law enforcement cannot arrest or hold someone at the request of immigration enforcement.

President Donald Trump returned to office in January promising mass deportations. His administration has sharply criticized communities that refuse to help and threatened to withhold funding from them.

Eight Minnesota counties have signed deals with ICE this year to hold detainees or help with enforcement actions. Called 287g agreements after a section of a 1996 immigration law, sheriffs signed on in hopes the deals would shield them from liability if they hold people for ICE without a criminal warrant.

There is also the promise of new federal revenue. Congress set aside $14 billion to reimburse local law enforcement for aiding ICE, and more than 1,000 agencies have signed on since Trump returned to office.

The agreements differ from the longstanding deals Freeborn, Kandiyohi and Sherburne counties have with ICE and the U.S. Marshals Service to house federal prisoners in their jails.

In September, Freeborn County Sheriff Ryan Shea told the Minnesota Star Tribune he signed a partnership because it would save ICE agents a trip if the county held onto people they wanted who were already in his jail on criminal charges. Shea declined to discuss the ACLU lawsuit because he said he had not seen it.

James Stuart, executive director of the Minnesota Sheriffs’ Association, also declined to discuss the pending lawsuit. He said the association recommends sheriffs talk to their local county attorneys before signing any deals with the federal government.

The four plaintiffs in the case, Jeremy Corey-Gruenes, Daphne Hamborg, Leslie Kaup and James Margadant are longtime Freeborn County residents. They object to the sheriff using taxpayer money to help ICE.

Margadant said in a statement that he knows the sheriff has a limited budget, and “it offends me to see those limited resources being further strained and misdirected.”

“Our message to law enforcement across Minnesota is simple: You do not have the authority to enforce civil immigration law,” said Teresa Nelson, legal director of the ACLU-MN.

Cass, Crow Wing, Itasca, Jackson, Kandiyohi, Mille Lacs and Sherburne counties also have signed the agreements.

Julio Zelaya, ACLU advocacy director, said residents’ opposition to the deals goes beyond finances. They fear immigrants will be afraid to call for help when they are victims of a crime if local officers are partnering with immigration agents.