Federal officials have recently threatened to bring criminal charges against two county sheriffs in Minneapolis and Chicago who have refused to grant immigration authorities broad access to inmates targeted for deportation. The move represents a new escalation in the Trump administration’s campaign against local officials who resist cooperating with its immigration enforcement policies.
The threats were delivered in letters beginning in early July to Sheriff Dawanna Witt of Hennepin County, Minnesota, which includes Minneapolis, and Sheriff Tom Dart of Cook County, Illinois, encompassing Chicago. Both sheriffs, who are Democrats, have limited cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) by only honoring custody transfer requests backed by judicial warrants.
The letters warn that the sheriffs could face federal prosecution for witness tampering, a felony, if they continue to deny ICE access to certain detainees. However, legal experts say such charges would be difficult to sustain. Former federal prosecutors and immigration attorneys reviewed the letters and found little basis for applying the witness tampering statute in this context, describing the use of ICE’s subpoena power as unprecedented and unlikely to hold up in court.
Sheriff Witt dismissed the threats as “scare tactics,” affirming her department’s longstanding policy. She emphasized concerns that cooperation with ICE could disrupt state legal processes in her pretrial facility and damage community trust, particularly by making immigrant residents less likely to report crimes. “I don’t want to be arrested,” Witt said, “but they know where I am. Come and get me.”
Sheriff Dart’s office confirmed receipt of similar letters last month. The Department of Homeland Security defended the letters as an attempt to compel “sanctuary politicians” to surrender dangerous criminals for deportation, framing local non-cooperation as obstructive to public safety efforts.
The dispute underscores a broader national debate over the role of local law enforcement in federal immigration enforcement. Some jurisdictions, particularly in Republican-led states, actively collaborate with ICE, facilitating deportations through agreements with detention facilities. Conversely, many Democratic-led jurisdictions maintain varying degrees of limited cooperation or restrict assistance altogether, citing state laws or public safety concerns.
Illinois, for example, has legislation restricting local officials’ involvement in immigration enforcement. Minnesota’s Hennepin County also reflects this cautious approach, prioritizing judicial oversight before consenting to ICE custody requests.
Federal courts in both states have previously dismissed lawsuits brought by the Justice Department against Sheriffs Witt and Dart, affirming state and local authority to limit cooperation with immigration enforcement.
Tom Homan, former White House immigration official, has argued that greater jail cooperation would improve the efficiency and safety of deportation efforts. Still, sheriffs like Witt maintain that such cooperation jeopardizes the integrity of state prosecutions and public trust, especially given the sensitive nature of pretrial detention.
As the sheriffs prepare for upcoming elections and ongoing legal challenges, the administration’s hardline stance on sanctuary policies continues to fuel tensions between federal immigration authorities and local law enforcement agencies.