- Utah lawmakers seek clarity from the federal government after ICE facility proposal.
- The Federalism Commission requests a state-federal law enforcement protocol for Utah.
- Lawmakers emphasize structural issues over partisan stances in federal-state jurisdictional matters.
SALT LAKE CITY — A bipartisan group of Utah lawmakers is looking for clarity from the federal government on working together on law enforcement issues in the state after a recent immigration detention facility proposal was advanced — and then reportedly scrapped — without any advance notice to state leaders.
The Legislature's Federalism Commission plans to ask U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to designate a government representative to work on creating a "state-federal law enforcement jurisdictional protocol for Utah" to help avoid clashes between the different governments, according to a draft letter.
"The Utah Federalism Commission writes with sincere appreciation for the federal government's decision not to proceed with the proposed immigration detention facility in Salt Lake County," the letter opens.
It goes on to cite Article I, Section 8, Clause 17 of the U.S. Constitution, which allows the federal government to "exercise exclusive legislation" over land "purchased by the consent of the legislature of the state in which the same shall be."
"In circumstances where that process is not invoked, the applicable jurisdictional framework may differ, making early coordination and a shared understanding between federal, state and local partners especially valuable," the letter states. "Neither posture is inherently problematic; each simply requires a different and mutually understood set of coordination arrangements. Our recent discussions underscored the value of having such a framework in place before questions arise."
The Federalism Commission, which is made up of nine lawmakers and several others, didn't take a position on the proposed detention facility, and instead expressed concern with the process that led to it. A proposed letter asking for a law enforcement framework was first proposed during a May meeting, when several members spoke of the lack of communication before U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement purchased a warehouse for that purpose on the west side of Salt Lake City.
The commission met again Thursday, just a week after The New York Times first reported that ICE plans to dispose of several sites, including the one in Salt Lake City. As with the initial purchase of the warehouse, lawmakers said they had no advance notice of the decision not to move forward and appeared to have only heard about the latest developments through news reports.
Sen. Karen Kwan, D-Taylorsville, acknowledged during Thursday's meeting that things had "changed a lot" since a month prior, but said there "are a lot of issues that we still don't have answers on."
"We really appreciate the effort of law enforcement, and we support them, but it's the process that we're trying to fix here," Rep. Kay Christofferson, R-Lehi, told the panel.
Despite all the recent focus on migrant detention due to the warehouse purchase, migration is only one piece of federal law enforcement in Utah, and the commission wants a framework in place to address a variety of potential issues, including jurisdictional issues of search and rescue and law enforcement on federal lands, according to Rep. Jason Thompson, R-River Heights, a member of the commission.
The letter states that the "recent detention facility discussions reinforced the potential value of developing this type of shared framework collaboratively."
Thompson emphasized that neither he nor the commission were taking a partisan stance on the issue of a detention facility in Utah, but said they were trying to address the structural issue of which level of government can exercise power and in what ways. Blue states often complain about federal overreach when a Republican is in the White House, and vice versa, Thompson said.
"Federalism is only dead to the party in power," he told KSL Friday. "This is simply about structure, and when better for Republicans to make structural arguments than when they have power? When can you have more credibility than to say, 'Hey, structure matters all the time.'"
The commission voted on Thursday to move ahead with the letter while considering some edits. A timeline for sending it to the secretary is not clear, but lawmakers say they want to move quickly while the issue is still relevant.
