Citizens Call on County Commission to Pull Out of Agreement Between Sheriff’s Office and ICE

Flathead County commissioners heard pleas from more than a dozen public commenters Monday, many of whom asked for the county to pull out of an agreement the sheriff’s office holds with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), along with calling on the county not to cooperate with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP).

“Every time our county cooperates with these agencies, you make us complicit in destroying families and violating constitutional rights,” said Marcela Cloud, a Whitefish resident. “So here’s my question: what are you going to do to protect our community? Because we’re watching, we’re organizing and we will absolutely hold you accountable.”

Other public commenters at the commissioners’ meeting raised fears about violations of constitutional rights and worries Flathead County — a place where they said local governments take pride in not taking orders from the federal government — would lose its independent streak, should it continue to comply with federal agencies enforcing an immigration crackdown now or in the future.

The comments follow similar public testimony at city council meetings in Kalispell, Whitefish and Columbia Falls last week, with some of the public turnout encouraged by local advocacy group Flathead Democracy.

Local outcry falls against a complicated national backdrop. In recent weeks, the impacts of President Donald Trump’s aggressive federal immigration action in Minneapolis have dominated the news cycle.

At the beginning of the year, as federal agents first set foot in Minnesota, an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Nicole Goode, a 37-year-old poet and mother, through her car windshield. The shooting sparked protests and strikes in the Twin Cities area.

At a protest over the weekend, an ICE agent killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse. Federal administration officials characterized Pretti as violent, claiming he was attacking ICE agents — claims which appear to be contradicted by video evidence of Pretti’s interaction with ICE. Federal agencies have also jumped into the fray, claiming jurisdiction to investigate and clashing with local investigators in the process.

As a result of Pretti’s shooting, Senate Democrats have threatened to yank their support for a six-bill spending package that includes DHS funding. Their stand could clear the way for a partial government shutdown. In a statement, Montana’s Democratic Party chair Shannon O’Brien said the party was “outraged and horrified” by Pretti’s death.

“The repeated violence committed by this administration is unacceptable and needs to stop now,” O’Brien said. “Get ICE and their inexperienced agents out of the streets before more lives are needlessly lost.”

Montana’s Republican senators, in statements shared with the Beacon, each referred to the shootings as “tragedies.” Sens. Steve Daines and Tim Sheehy also called for investigations into the shooting, and for law enforcement support.

“The shooting in Minneapolis is a tragedy and should be fully investigated,” Daines said. “I am glad President Trump is directly engaged in the situation and sent Border Czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis. We must continue to support law enforcement and fund the government in order to avoid a shutdown this week.”

“I strongly urge Tim Walz and Mayor Frey to cooperate with ICE so we can avoid future tragedies and facilitate safe and orderly enforcement of our immigration laws,” Sheehy said. “Brave law enforcement officers put themselves in harm’s way each day to keep our streets safe, and they deserve our respect and support.”

In the Flathead, the county government coordinates with the Department of Homeland Security. Flathead County administrator Pete Melnick explained in an email that most of that coordination comes in “emergency management, preparedness, and critical-infrastructure protection” — which is typical across the country.

“For instance, the county works with FEMA in the context of disaster preparedness, emergency declarations, response coordination, and post-incident recovery when events rise to that level,” Melnick wrote.

He added the county also does work with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which operates under DHS, for “matters related to cybersecurity, election security, and the protection of critical infrastructure.”

The Flathead County Sheriff’s Office also holds a 287(g) agreement. Those agreements, made legal under Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, authorize local law enforcement the authority to carry out some immigration officer functions, in coordination with ICE. The Flathead County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) has held the agreement since 2020. Gallatin County has also held a 287(g) agreement for several years, while the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office and Montana Department of Justice more recently began employing such agreements.

Several public commenters Monday called for the county to pull out of the agreement.

“When ICE agents are trained for 47 days, they are not, I repeat, not capable of safely handling a weapon, of safely working in a community,” said Danielle Tuhy, a Kalispell resident, at the commissioners’ meeting Monday morning. “So, when you support 287(g), you are putting the police and the sheriffs who will have to deal with that at risk.”

Sheriff Brian Heino explained the agreement offers some training for the sheriff’s office, specifically around interacting with immigration arrests, and it mainly means the sheriff’s office can enforce holds for ICE.

“I think the original, you know, portion on it was, was to educate individuals of how that process works, what it meant when different things came through and trying to do that,” Heino said. “And again, that was well prior to some of the conflicts that we’re currently seeing within our nation.”

But the county hasn’t re-signed the agreement since 2020, and doesn’t really use the agreement much. Heino said mainly, that’s because the jail hasn’t had the capacity. The county passed a public safety bond in November to build a new public safety facility, something county officials long advocated for. He said the sheriff’s office does still work with other federal partners, like the U.S. Marshals, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Homeland Security Investigations or Border Patrol. Mostly, Heino said, the sheriff’s office does courtesy holds for “individuals that need to be transported to other facilities.”

Melnick, the county administrator, encouraged those with concerns to “engage through the appropriate public comment processes and with their elected representatives.”

Commenters’ statements Monday follow on the heels of similar public comment demonstrations at city council meetings in Whitefish, Kalispell and Columbia Falls, though cities in the valley have said they do not have agreements with the Department of Homeland Security.

“The City of Whitefish does not have an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security or the U.S. Customs and Border Protection for the policing or enforcement of immigration laws,” Dana Meeker, the city manager, wrote in an email.

But Whitefish does have a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) station within city limits, and the city has run into concerns about police officers’ coordination with Border Patrol agents. Whitefish is currently facing a racial profiling lawsuit from Beker Rengifo del Castillo, a Venezuelan man who had entered the country legally. Last April, Rengifo del Castillo was first pulled over by a Whitefish police officer before his arrest by federal agents. Rengifo del Castillo was transported to an out-of-state detention center, where he spent nearly a week in ICE custody before his release April 30.

In Whitefish’s initial response to Rengifo del Castillo’s arrest, it said it had a “long-standing working relationship” with CBP. But Meeker said that working relationship does not hinge on any formal agreement.

Still, some public commenters at a Jan. 20 Whitefish city council meeting focused on Rengifo del Castillo’s arrest in their comments. Leanette Galaz, one of the founders of Flathead Democracy, said CBP’s local presence makes the events in Minneapolis feel especially relevant.

“This is my community, and this is where I have a small modicum of power and influence, right?” Galaz said. “I can’t control anything right now that’s happening at the national level with the current administration, but I can talk to you all and talk to my community here about what our relationship is with DHS, and right now, it’s a little too close for comfort.”

At Kalispell’s city council meeting last week, some speakers called for the city to protect its residents, too. Ron Gerson, a Kalispell resident, urged the city to protect local immigrants “to the fullest extent.”

“If ICE comes to our valley, it is your duty not to work with them and do anything you can to actually protect the citizens of Kalispell and to do all the things to actually help us,” Josh Lee, a senior at Glacier High School, told councilors on Jan. 20. “Federal authorities have no regard for the people of Kalispell. They don’t. They do not care. The people that do are you, and I truly believe that. I truly believe that whether you’re a Republican, a Democrat, an independent, libertarian, whatever it may be, that you ran for this seat because you want to help the people of Kalispell.”

Kalispell city councilor Sid Daoud told public commenters the city has no direct role in immigration. But, Daoud added the city does have a “mutual cooperation agreement” with the county sheriff, and said federal enforcement would have to coordinate with Heino before taking local action. Daoud added he personally dislikes what’s going on in the U.S.

“I want everybody to know that we are not turning a blind eye to the situation,” Daoud said. “We’re gonna do what we need to do, which is support our sheriff, but that doesn’t mean we can’t give him suggestions as well.”

The Flathead isn’t the only area of the state facing questions about local compliance with the federal government’s immigration priorities. In Helena, per Montana Free Press reporting, the police department left the Missouri River Drug Task Force Monday over concerns with border patrol presence.

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Lauren Frick contributed reporting.