A: As we write this, federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are apparently conducting operations in Manhattan. There’s a lot we don’t know, but here we attempt to answer some questions about how the agency works, particularly with other local entities.
So the short answer is yes, temporarily. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency of the federal Department of Homeland Security, has made previous detainments here and there but seems to have sent officers for organized arrests at some homes and businesses Thursday and Friday.
They were spotted early Thursday morning in a caravan of unmarked vehicles. Some had flashing lights that were not visible when turned off. The officers were in plainclothes, but numerous people reported seeing them conducting what appeared to be detainments.
ICE has an office in Kansas City, which oversees northwest Missouri and northeast Kansas. It does not have a field office in Manhattan. The Kansas City office is overseen by the Midwest regional office in Chicago.
The Mercury has been in contact spokeswoman Erin Bultje, Midwest regional director of public affairs for ICE. She has not provided any specific information about operations in Kansas, from this week or before. She directed a reporter to make public records requests through the agency’s automated system.
The Mercury made Freedom of Information Act requests for records about people arrested or detained in Riley County and Pottawatomie County in the last year. The reporter submitted the requests on Jan. 27 and an updated request on Thursday. No one has responded to those requests so far, although the law requires a response to such requests within three business days.
All that’s to say we don’t know much officially. Numerous people have reported seeing the caravan at more than a dozen locations in town as of this writing. Some witnesses said they have seen officers detaining people.
So far there are no reports of the kind of violence reported in Minnesota.
Q: What were they doing in the municipal court that one time I read about?
A: Jazmin Alonso-Cantu, a Manhattan woman born in Mexico, was arrested Dec. 4 at the Manhattan Municipal Court after she appeared for a hearing with Judge Sarah Barr. ICE agents were present in the courtroom to arrest Alonso-Cantu, and followed her after the completion of her appearance into a hallway where they arrested her.
As previously reported, the case got attention because Barr said in court that she thought the agents shouldn’t be there. That led to a U.S. attorney writing a letter to the Manhattan city government asking them to show that the city hasn’t adopted “sanctuary city” policies and would cooperate with federal officers. City officials did respond saying that Manhattan has no such policies and would comply with federal law.
Following her arrest, Alonso-Cantu was listed as being detained in the Otero County Processing Center in New Mexico. She’s no longer listed in the ICE system.
Q: How does it work? How does ICE get alerted when somebody is arrested here?
When Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents want to assume custody of a person being held by federal, state or local law enforcement, they issue an immigration detainer to inform the agency of their intent.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement website specifies that ICE detainers state an intent to take a person into custody, request information about the person’s impending release and ask the agency to maintain custody of the person for up to 48 hours beyond the intended release so that immigration agents can make an arrest “in a safe environment instead of at-large in the community.”
The website also clarifies that immigration detainers are only requests, and don’t require agencies to comply.
The Mercury was unable to determine if an ICE detainer was issued for Jazmin Alonso-Cantu before her arrest by ICE agents in December.
Q: If a person is arrested locally and also wanted by ICE, which takes precedence?
Barry Wilkerson, Riley County attorney, said in his experience with ICE detainers, often referred to as holds, a person with a hold being prosecuted in Riley County District Court would first complete their county case, before being transferred to ICE custody. In cases of a minor offense such as an alleged traffic infraction, Wilkerson said the county may just dismiss their case.
Katie Jackson, the city attorney for Manhattan, said cases in which a defendant fails to appear due to confinement by ICE are treated the same as cases for defendants being held by another county or any other law enforcement agency.
Q: How many people have been hauled out of here by ICE because the court system flagged them like that?
The Mercury has been unable to determine the number of people taken from the area by ICE so far. Local officials said they are unaware and are not necessarily required to be notified by external agencies that they’re coming in.
We also asked for dates, locations, and names included in any cases. That is considered to be public information by law, and should be provided if requested.
Bultje provided a statement attributed to another ICE spokesperson.
“ICE law enforcement officers are sending criminal illegal aliens where they should have been all along — HOME. In a historic year of record-breaking achievements under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Noem, DHS law enforcement arrested more than 675,000 illegal aliens — 70% of ICE arrests have been charged or convicted of a crime in the U.S.”
Bultje included the identities of five Kansas men described as “heinous criminal aliens” who have been arrested by ICE. None of them were from Manhattan.
Q: Why doesn’t the Riley County police department have a 247A agreement signed with Homeland Security and ICE?
A 247A form is actually not an agreement. Form I-247A from the DHS is the form notifying local law enforcement of an immigration detainer.
If you’re asking about agreements between agencies, you’re probably referring to 287(g) agreements. The agreements are between local law enforcement agencies and federal immigration enforcement and dictate the scope of the coordination between both agencies.
Customs enforcement is under federal jurisdiction, and RCPD is not responsible for enforcing immigration law. RCPD director Brian Peete said the department does not have the staffing availability to devote an officer to work solely on immigration enforcement. Peete said customs enforcement presents a high liability because involvement in the 287(g) program could put the department’s insurance coverage at risk.
The Riley County Police Department does not have an agreement with ICE.
Q: Why would we want to hold or detain known criminals who could be gone in days? Listening to the Board Of County Commission, just the medical costs of housing a criminal can be expensive for taxpayers.
Peete said the Riley County jail always holds people with warrants from other local agencies and out-of-state jurisdictions. This works both ways, as other agencies hold people with warrants from RCPD. Peete said this is a common practice.