JACKSON, Wyo. — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have been reported to be present in Teton County this week.
Teton County Sheriff Matt Carr confirmed to the Jackson Hole News&Guide that the agency would be active in Teton and Lincoln counties. Sgt. John Faicco with the Teton County Sheriff’s Office told Buckrail that ICE was “operating independently.”
An ICE representative said to Buckrail via email, “U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and agents are on the streets every day, prioritizing public safety by locating, arresting, and removing criminal alien offenders and immigration violators from our neighborhoods.”
According to the Wyoming Immigrant Advocacy Project (WIAP), an estimated six locals have been arrested this week, booked into the Sweetwater County Jail on ICE holds. KHOL reports that more than 50 people have been arrested since March.
“To my knowledge, ICE has picked up 2 people from the county jail, and the remainder of the arrests have been made in the community,” WIAP Legal Director Rosie Read told Buckrail via email. “They may be going to workplaces, but the reports we’re seeing indicate they’re primarily contacting people in public spaces either just outside their homes, in parking lots, or on the roadside after following a vehicle and initiating a traffic stop.”
Traffic stops are often the first point of contact between undocumented residents and law enforcement. As of July 1, the State of Wyoming no longer recognizes non-resident driver’s licenses issued by other states, and those driving with that documentation alone could be charged with a misdemeanor.
At a community meeting about ICE in February, immigration attorney Elisabeth Trefonas confirmed that minors can be detained, and that her youngest client was 5 years old.
