Last Thursday, three Idaho counties appeared on an internal report by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as not fully cooperating with detainer requests for inmates who were alleged to be in this country illegally. On Friday, Theo Wold, former special advisor to President Trump and one of the architects of Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy appeared on Idaho Signal with Matt Edwards as well as a Twitter Space hosted by Lauren Walker to explain the detainer process and examine why Kootenai, Bonneville, and Power Counties would be named as non-cooperative. Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris joined the Space, explaining his perspective on these events.
According to reporting by the Kootenai Journal, the inclusion of Kootenai County on this report was a mistake.
The Journal shared a screenshot of an email from Matthew Cantrell, acting deputy field director of ICE’s Seattle office, who replied to Kootenai County Jail Bureau director Capt. Jeremy Hyle’s inquiry:
I have been able to update the database containing the non-cooperative error. Kootenai County will no longer appear on the non-cooperative publication.
I sincerely apologize for this error and thank you for your continued assistance.
It seems plausible that the inclusion of Bonneville and Power Counties was due to the same error.
Assuming there is no other information waiting to come out, it’s gratifying to know that Idaho counties are doing their due diligence to enforce immigration law. The silver lining of this incident is a reminder that as citizens we should continue to stay informed and up-to-date so as to better hold our elected leaders accountable. It’s also a reminder to always wait for more information before blasting those same elected leaders.
Feature image from ice.gov.
