Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt says her office has never been contacted about helping enforce immigration laws as the Trump Administration begins to implement to policies around rounding up and deporting illegal immigrants. But Witt did say it likely will happen, and that she stands by the stance that immigration is not part of her agency's job.
"We have not been asked and I anticipate we probably will. I will stand by that that is not part of our job, you know, we're gonna deal with it as the questions, the demands come but you know what? I think we can all agree when you look at Hennepin County and we look at the crimes that we're seeing right here, we're busy."
President Donald Trump rolled out a blueprint to beef up security at the southern border in a series of executive orders that began taking effect soon after his inauguration Monday, making good on his defining political promise to crack down on immigration and marking another wild swing in White House policy on the divisive issue.
"We will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places in which they came,” Trump said in his inauguration speech to thunderous applause.
Witt says dealing with the potential round-up of illegal immigrants is not something her agency is supposed to do. But she told WCCO that a request may come following President Trump's executive orders.
One order Trump signed Monday restores efforts to pursue everyone in the country illegally, moving away from the Biden administration’s more narrow deportation criteria. He also wants negotiations with state and local governments to deputize police to enforce immigration laws.
As in his first term, Trump also wants to end federal grants to “sanctuary” jurisdictions — states and cities that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities.