Anoka County Sheriff Brad Wise told the Oak Grove City Council on Feb. 9 that his office continues to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement within the limits of state law and said he supports expanding statutory authority to allow more immigration pickups to occur inside jails rather than in communities.
Wise said immigration enforcement activity in the northern portion of Anoka County has been limited. The Sheriff’s Office patrols the area north of 133rd Avenue and Main Street in the northern half of the county, and he said he was unaware of any incidents locally that would draw scrutiny.
“The anecdotes that you see on TV, I know that you’re all educated well enough to take everything you see with a grain of salt,” Wise said. “My impression is I’m always presented with a half of a story, and that’s all you’re ever going to get is a half of a story and you’re left to fill in the blanks yourself.”
Wise said public reaction to immigration enforcement is often shaped by incomplete information.
“The real facts are hard to get out, because everyone seems to want to massage what’s happening for a certain agenda,” he said.
Council Member Mike Wylie asked about the county jail’s past practice of placing holds on inmates at ICE’s request. Anoka County previously honored immigration detainers but later modified its approach following a lawsuit.
Wise said the county now cooperates with ICE “as much as we possibly can” while complying with state law.
In 2017, Anoka County was sued over its practice of honoring ICE detainers. The case, Myriam Parada v. Anoka County, challenged the county’s policy of referring certain foreign-born inmates to ICE. A federal district court ruled against the county’s policy, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit upheld that decision, finding it amounted to unlawful national-origin discrimination.
“No, we don’t honor detainers the way we used to,” Wise said. “But it’s because getting successfully sued by someone who was detained led to a bunch of decisions… now we have to just dial it back a little bit. That said, we cooperate as much as we possibly can.”
Under current practice, inmates booked into the jail have their fingerprints transmitted to the National Crime Information Center database. If ICE has placed an immigration hold on an individual, a notification is generated, and ICE may issue a detainer request.
When a detainer is received, the county communicates with ICE to coordinate timing. However, inmates cannot be held beyond the completion of their state charges without legal authority.
“Inmates can’t be held for a minute beyond state charges before ICE gets to them,” Wise said, adding that ICE’s presence in the metro generally allows for timely pickups.
Wise said he recently participated in a Zoom meeting with Trump administration Border Czar Tom Homan, who emphasized cooperation from county jails.
“He talked a lot about, the more help he gets from county jails, the fewer staff he needs to conduct their apprehensions,” Wise said.
Wise said facilitating pickups inside jails would reduce the need for federal agents to conduct arrests in neighborhoods and businesses.
“The way I’d phrase it is that, if ICE doesn’t come get you in jail, that means they have to go hunt for you and ring your doorbell and go to businesses,” Wise said. “Which is the thing that people seem to be most upset about. It’s a no-brainer to me that the state of Minnesota should be facilitating pickups in jails.”
He said he has worked with the Minnesota Sheriffs’ Association on the issue and plans to testify before the Legislature in support of statutory changes that would allow expanded cooperation.
Wise also criticized Hennepin and Ramsey counties, which have adopted more restrictive policies regarding ICE detainers. He said he disagrees with what he described as resistance to cooperation.
Officials in Hennepin and Ramsey counties have previously said their policies are designed to comply with state law and reduce civil liability exposure related to detainer requests.
Wise reiterated that within the area patrolled by his office, immigration enforcement has not been a significant issue and said he viewed that as a positive sign.