| By Big Radio News Staff |
Rock County’s Sheriff’s Office appears to be cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on the detention of at least one immigrant.
Federal ICE officials placed a Rock County Jail inmate on a 48-hour detention as he was ready to finish out a 20-day, court-ordered house arrest for second offense operating while intoxicated.
A Rock County Sheriff’s Office report says at about 11 a.m. Tuesday, the sheriff’s office sent deputies to 33-year-old Lorenzo Barrios’ home on Keeler Avenue in Beloit
Barrios was scheduled to be released from custody after serving his time on the local charges, but the sheriff’s office instead went to his home and took him to the jail at ICE’s request.
Barrios’s apprehension comes as local police agencies tiptoeing around Presidential orders to assist ICE in apprehending immigrants who are thought to pose an immediate threat of violent crime or terrorism.
In recent weeks, police agencies including Janesville and Beloit’s city police forces have issued public statements that they will not proactively pursue anyone’s immigration status — although if police were warned by ICE or other federal officials of an immigrant believed to pose a serious threat to the public, they’d follow federal law by apprehending and overturning such a person to federal authorities.
This is a response to the President’s abrupt and aggressive moves toward halting illegal immigration, including an executive order that nullifies birthright citizenship.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement website, ICE issues detainers against immigrants convicted of burglaries and robberies, kidnapping, homicide, sexual assault, weapons offenses, drug trafficking, and human trafficking.
None of those offenses seem to line up with a minor drunken driving offense, which is what Barrios was convicted of here.
Sheriff Curtis fell tells Big Radio that ICE does not frequently reach out to the sheriff’s office with a request to detain a person on ICE’s behalf.
Fell says in the past, when ICE has asked the sheriff’s office to detain a person, ICE officials typically do not tell local law enforcement why.
Fell says ICE requests typically come through an electronic message to local law enforcement, with little detail given.
Fell tells Big Radio that sometimes, ICE asks the county to detain somebody, and then the agency never turns up to take the person in custody.
In those cases, as long as the person does not face other charges, Fell says local authorities simply release the person from custody.
It’s not clear if the county gets funding or other reimbursements from ICE or federal immigration officials when sheriff’s deputies get asked to detain and house someone for ICE.
Fell says in ICE’s latest request to have Rock County deputies detain Barrios, he believes the deputies were not given any info on why ICE sought Barrios before deputies went to his home and took him to jail.
The sheriff office’s main information on Barrios has to do with his local drunken driving arrest.
