Washington County has made Trump's 'top ten' list of counties who won't work with ICE

Washington County refused more than a half-dozen detainer requests by immigration officials in the week following Donald Trump's increased immigration enforcement.

President Donald Trump's administration is stepping up enforcement on immigration, and its sights are set on Washington County.

On Monday, the Department of Homeland Security published a report showing which local law enforcement agencies failed to comply with orders from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, including a national 'top ten' list — and Washington County is the only Oregon jurisdiction on it.

The ICE report is the first in what is said to become a weekly publication, naming counties whose law enforcement agencies refuse to cooperate with ICE requests to detain people living in the country without documentation, "therefore potentially endangering Americans," ICE said in a press release.

Washington County Sheriff Pat Garrett took issue with the report and noted there are circumstances when county officials can and do cooperate with ICE.

In the federal report, Washington County was listed seventh, having declined at least seven ICE detainer requests during the week of the week of Jan. 28-Feb. 3.

Leading the list was Clark County (Las Vegas), Nevada with 51; followed by Nassau County, New York, with 38; and Cook County (Chicago), Illinois with 13.

The Declined Detainer Outcome Report says the 10 top governments accounted for 157 of the 3,083 requests for that week, the first week after President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Jan. 25 for the stepped-up enforcement.

Highest volume of detainers issued to non-cooperative jurisdictions Jan. 28-Feb. 3, 2017 • Clark County, Nev. — 51 • Nassau County, N.Y. — 38 • Cook County, Ill. — 13 • Montgomery County, Iowa — 12 • Snhomish County, Wash. — 12 • Franklin County, N.Y. — 9 • Washington County, Ore. — 7 • Alachua County, Fla. — 5 • Franklin County, Iowa — 5 • Franklin County, Penn. — 5 Information courtesy Immigration and Customs Enforcement

According to the report, Multnomah County declined two requests for ICE detainers during that same week. Clackamas County decline one detainer.

"The report does not accurately describe the difficulties or potential legal ramifications associated with honoring ICE detainer requests," Garrett responded.

He specified a 2014 decision in Portland by a U.S. District Court judge, who found Clackamas County in violation of a woman's constitutional rights when the county honored an ICE detainer in 2012. The case of Maria Miranda-Olivares, who the court decided had been detained unlawfully after she settled an unrelated county charge in 2012, cost taxpayers $100,000.

"This court concludes that ... the Jail was at liberty to refuse ICE's request to detain Miranda-Olivares if that detention violated her constitutional rights," Judge Janice Stewart wrote.

"The Clackamas County court ruling led Washington County, along with every other county in Oregon, to immediately stop honoring ICE detainer requests," Garrett said.

A 1987 state law generally bars police agencies from using state or local resources to enforce federal immigration laws.

But according to the Homeland Security report, such laws threaten the safety of the country:

"When law enforcement agencies fail to honor immigration detainers and release serious criminal offenders, it undermines ICE's ability to protect the public safety and carry out its mission," said Thomas Homan, acting ICE director. "Our goal is to build cooperative, respectful relationships with our law enforcement partners. We will continue collaborating with them to help ensure that illegal aliens who may pose a threat to our communities are not released onto the streets to potentially harm individuals living within our communities."

Washington County does send ICE a daily roster of foreign-born inmates, according to the federal report, but does not respond to requests from ICE to detain specific individuals. The state law does allow deputies to check immigration status if a suspect is in jail on suspicion of another crime. It also allows them to honor federal warrants or court orders.

"Washington County informed ICE officials that it will honor any warrant or court order to detain a person," Garrett said. Meanwhile, "Washington County will continue to follow the court's clear guidance that these detainer requests are unconstitutional."

The federal report says Washington County is among 20 Oregon counties which will honor only warrants or court orders.

Reporter Geoff Pursinger and news partner KOIN 6 News contributed to this article.

By Peter Wong

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