Utah, feds reach accord on handling of prison inmates in the country illegally

The Utah State Correctional Facility in Salt Lake City on Aug. 7, 2024. Utah and federal officials have reached an accord pertaining to handling of Utah prison inmates in the country illegally.

The Utah State Correctional Facility in Salt Lake City on Aug. 7, 2024. Utah and federal officials have reached an accord pertaining to handling of Utah prison inmates in the country illegally. (Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News)


Save Story

Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes

KEY TAKEAWAYS
  • Utah prison officials formalized an agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement on handling of inmates in the country illegally.
  • The agreement formalizes cooperative efforts that have been ongoing for years.
  • Per their cooperative efforts, Utah prisons will release inmates here illegally to immigration officials if they're subject to immigration detainers.

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah prison officials have inked an accord with U.S. Immigration and Customs and Enforcement that's meant to streamline the process of deporting immigrants in the state's prison system who are in the country illegally.

Utah Department of Corrections spokesman Glen Mills said prison officials have already been cooperating with federal immigration officials on the handling of imprisoned immigrants in the country illegally. The memorandum of understanding announced Wednesday, per section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, formalizes the cooperative relationship.

"This is how we have been operating for several years. This is just a formal agreement," he said.

The cooperative efforts apply to inmates in Utah with immigration detainers, official requests that prison representatives inform Immigration and Customs Enforcement before releasing "removable aliens," typically those here illegally and facing deportation. Mills said 289 of the 6,294 inmates in the Utah prison system — 4.6% of the total — are currently targets of immigration detainers, meaning they're subject to release to immigration officials once they've served their sentences.

More and more agencies in other states are reaching cooperative accords with immigration officials under 287(g), though the Washington County Sheriff's Office is the only other agency in Utah with a formal agreement. Per the Washington County agreement, local sheriff's officials are authorized to take part in operations to identify and apprehend immigrants in the country illegally and to help identify them once in the local jail system.

In a statement on the new agreement, formalized Monday, Jared Garcia, executive director of the Department of Corrections, touted the arrangement as a means of safeguarding Utah communities from criminal immigrants. "We are dedicated to protecting communities, and that's what this relationship does. We will not tolerate those who come to our country illegally and victimize our citizens. We will continue to collaborate with our local, state and federal partners to hold these people accountable," he said.

Those in Utah's prisons, regardless of immigration status, have typically committed serious crimes, Mills said. "Anyone who comes in our system committed a pretty violent crime, or they wouldn't be in prison. We're not talking about shoplifters in our system," he said.

While the new accord formalizes cooperation that has already been occurring, Mills said one change will be the designation of officials at each of Utah's two prisons to serve as liaisons with Immigration and Customs Enforcement representatives. The warrant service officers, as they're called, will get formal training.

The cooperation envisioned under the 287(g) program "streamlines the serving of warrants to incarcerated aliens with criminal charges or convictions," reads an Immigration and Customs Enforcement fact sheet.

At any rate, what ultimately happens to those inmates who are targeted by immigration detainers and the focus of cooperative efforts will be the responsibility of immigration officials. Immigration officials usually detain all immigrants targeted by detainers once their prison terms end, according to Mills.

"What happens is someone will be in our system with an ICE detainer, and we will coordinate with ICE and let them know when that person is released," Mills said. Once immigration officials "pick them up, they're no longer in our jurisdiction, and it's up to ICE what they do with them."

The uptick in agencies reaching accords under 287(g) to cooperate with federal officials on immigration matters is part of President Donald Trump's focus on detaining and deporting immigrants here illegally. According to a website on 287(g), an executive order signed Jan. 20 by Trump requires Immigration and Customs Enforcement to reach accords with qualified local agencies "to the maximum extent permitted by law."

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

Related stories

Most recent Immigration stories

Related topics

ImmigrationPoliticsUtahPolice & CourtsVoces de Utah
Tim Vandenack covers immigration, multicultural issues and Northern Utah for KSL.com. He worked several years for the Standard-Examiner in Ogden and has lived and reported in Mexico, Chile and along the U.S.-Mexico border.

CONNECTED COMMUNITIES

Stay current on local Latino/Hispanic events, news and stories when you subscribe to the Voces de Utah newsletter.
By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Newsletter Signup

KSL Weather Forecast

KSL Weather Forecast
Play button