Hennepin County sheriff opens door to limited cooperation with ICE to end surge
Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt said Friday she's carefully considering options for a compromise with federal immigration agents if it means winding down Operation Metro Surge.
Trump administration officials have repeatedly accused local and state officials in Minnesota of not cooperating with immigration enforcement and of releasing hundreds of dangerous criminals into the streets rather than turning them over to federal immigration agents.
"At the end of the day, I want the abundance of agents here gone," Witt told WCCO News. "I want our citizens and residents to get back to what level of normalcy we can. I need our community to trust your local authorities because we are here to protect you."
Witt added she met with border czar Tom Homan earlier on Friday — their fourth meeting since he arrived last week — and described the meetings as cordial and productive. Homan, she explained, wants the Hennepin County Jail to give notice to federal agents a specific time when an inmate who is undocumented is released.
"I would agree that certain charges — murder, rape, assaults — I would absolutely agree with those notifications, but I also agree with where it says you're innocent until proven guilty," Witt lamented. "We are a pretrial facility. What happens if somebody bails out, they're wanted for murder, and we call you and you pick them up? People here want justice."
In an interview with CBS News earlier this month, Witt rejected claims that her office won't work with federal partners, noting that for years, deputies on task forces with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Marshals and Homeland Security Investigations have partnered on criminal investigations into human trafficking and sexual exploitation.
She again maintained that the jail would cooperate with ICE if agents obtained a judicial warrant for an individual's arrest.
"We have to look at each individual and each incident separately. We just do," she said.
Hennepin County is Minnesota's most populous county, home to the state's largest jail, which Witt says operates at roughly 85% capacity on most days. Witt is running for reelection this year as her term ends next January.
