Snohomish County Sheriff Disputes Feds Non-Cooperation Claims

Snohomish County Sheriff Ty Trenary just issued a statement regarding the Snohomish County Jail being put on a list of jurisdictions that don’t comply with ICE detainer requests…

“Yesterday, the Department of Homeland Security issued an “Immigration and Customs Enforcement Declined Detainer Outcome Report” which included the “highest volume of detainers issued to non-cooperative jurisdictions between January 28, 2017 and February 3, 2017.” The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office was included in a list of jurisdictions across the U.S. that do not comply with ICE detainer requests. In an accompanying news release, Acting ICE Director Thomas Homan stated that when local law enforcement fails to honor ICE detainers “…it undermines ICE’s ability to protect the public safety…”

That is simply untrue. This unsubstantiated claim is offensive to me and the communities that I and the men and women of the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office proudly serve.  If ICE truly felt that these offenders were a danger to society, they would establish probable cause and seek an arrest warrant, just like any other law enforcement agency. Since our policy to no longer honor detainer requests has been in place, ICE has produced zero warrants at our jail.

I am also baffled as to why my agency would be listed as a county that has a policy of “non-cooperation”, as we have a clear track record of working with ICE when they are conducting a criminal investigation on one of our inmates.

As with most of the Sheriff’s Offices who operate large jails in Washington and Oregon, Snohomish County has not honored ICE detainers since April 2014. This was as a result of the federal district court decision, Miranda-Olivares v. Clackamas County, which ruled that honoring ICE detainers without probable cause is a violation of the 4th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.  Not honoring ICE detainer requests has nothing to do with whether Snohomish County is a “sanctuary” jurisdiction and has everything to do with following the letter of the law.

My agency’s mission is Community First, and I believe in policies and processes that maximize public safety, while treating everyone fairly, with dignity and respect.”