Teller County Sheriff to have some deputies become ‘Designated Immigration Officers’
TELLER COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) - The Teller County Sheriff's Office is now the first in the state to join a federal immigration task force with deputies who will work directly with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
It all comes after the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Mikesell two weeks ago for a lawsuit that was filed by the ACLU back in 2019.
Some of Mikesell's deputies will be called "Designated Immigration Officers," who can look into people’s immigration status once they've been arrested for another crime.
"As soon as someone comes in (to Teller County Jail) and they believe that this person is not from the United States, that deputy who's my deputy then basically turns his hat around and he becomes a federal agent on a task force," explained Sheriff Mikesell.
If the designated immigration officers, also known as 287(g) deputies, find anyone here illegally, they can then contact ICE agents to take them into custody.
"So that doesn't mean they're going to be released on our very flimsy and weak bond issues in Colorado and/or back to parole, where they've been patrolling them to, to commit more crimes in Colorado," said Sheriff Mikesell.
Right now Colorado law prohibits the designated immigration officers and local law enforcement from taking anyone into custody solely on their immigration status.
It's why Sheriff Mikesell and El Paso County Sheriff Joe Roybal are still pushing for a new law that would widen the scope of abilities between deputies and officers to assist ICE agents.
RELATED: Teller and El Paso County Sheriff’s Offices discuss immigration
Sheriff Mikesell says multiple people have been taken into custody by ICE from the Teller County Jail in the past few weeks.
"So somebody that's not from the United States shouldn't be here in Colorado that has committed crimes, is now taken into custody by ICE. And they're not let go, and they're made to deal with those crimes, and then they're either deported or put back into a federal prison. I think that's a difference. And that's something we as Coloradoans should want," stated Sheriff Mikesell.
The 287(g) deputies are trained by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and ICE.
"This is the one jail in the state of Colorado that can identify through a 287(g) deputy and give it over to them (ICE)," explained Sheriff Mikesell.
