Ex-Logan court workers target of probe for allegedly helping someone evade ICE agent

LOGAN — Federal officials are investigating two former Logan Justice Court employees who allegedly helped someone with business at the court evade an immigration agent.

Logan officials haven't publicly identified the two workers, who resigned following the April 9 incident, and are awaiting findings of a probe into the incident by U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities, said Logan spokesman George Woodward. He said the justice court workers could potentially face criminal charges.

"As a city government, our responsibility is to adhere to the law, and that applies to the government as a whole and to individual employees as well," he said. Justice courts in Utah typically handle less-serious cases, including class B and C misdemeanors and infractions.

DHS and ICE officials didn't immediately respond to a query seeking comment. At the same time, Woodward said city officials "have not made any formal allegations at this point" against the two former employees and await findings from the federal probe.

Woodward doesn't know how the workers knew the person they helped had been targeted by an ICE official or why they helped him or her. The individual was to have appeared in court and the workers allegedly helped the person exit the court building through a nonpublic door.

"I don't know whether they knew of it in advance or just learned of it on the spot," he said. Furthermore, he doesn't know if the person the employees allegedly helped has been detained.

Immigrant advocates and lawyers in Utah last February reported an uptick in action in Utah courthouses by federal immigration agents tracking immigrant suspects. Immigration enforcement action at courthouses around the country has become "a cornerstone" in the efforts of the administration of President Donald Trump to detain and deport immigrants in the country illegally, according to the American Immigration Council, an immigrant advocacy group.

Related topics