By Emma’le Maas
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DUBUQUE, Iowa (KWWL) — Monday morning at the Dubuque County Board of Supervisors meeting, Dubuque County Sheriff Joe Kennedy defended his decision to decline an offer to join a federal ICE program.
287-g is an existing program currently only Iowa State Patrol has an agreement for in the state, which gives ICE officer authorizations to state officers. Earlier this month, an ICE representative reached out to Sheriff Kennedy asking if he would like to ‘volunteer’ the county to join- in which he declined.
Monday afternoon, Sheriff Kennedy says he felt it was unnecessary to sign the county up for the program, as they already assist federal officers when their help is requested.
“A lot of it is stuff that we’re already doing already. They talk about warrant services and things like that, we’re already authorized to do that,” he said.
Both at the meeting and this afternoon, Sheriff Kennedy said the reason he declined to participate, is due to a lack of staff and resources, and his concern his deputies may be pulled for a raid instead of responding to local emergencies.
“If I’m here, in Dubuque County having a heart attack- I don’t really want to hear that there’s no officer responding to assist because they’re assisting in Allamakee County with an ICE raid,” he said, adding, “I don’t think it’s in the best interest of the people in Dubuque County, using Dubuque County dollars, in other places, to help enforce what the federal government is supposed to be doing.”
After Sheriff Kennedy declined the offer, he received an email from the National Sheriff’s Association encouraging counties to sign up for the program, or risk being labeled as a ‘sanctuary city,’ implying repercussions from the federal government. Sheriff Kennedy says as of today, he has not received any threat from any federal agency that there could be consequences for his decision.
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