Anoka County Board affirms that Anoka County is NOT a sanctuary County

 This months Anoka County News magazine has an article entitled "Non-Sanctuary Resolution Affirms Rule of Law."

This is a breath of fresh air to see local elected officials like the Anoka County Commissioners, County Attorney Brad Johnson and Anoka County Sheriff Brad Wise enforcing the law and protecting citizens in the face of so much media backlash on immigration enforcement.

So what does this look like? I spoke to Anoka County Commissioner John Heinrich on the phone and confirmed these facts. 

If a person is arrested and booked into the Anoka County Jail ICE has access to inmate bookings and ICE will notify them if a non-citizen has an immigration Warrant or Detainer.

The Anoka County Jail will not hold an inmate beyond their normal release just on the basis of an ICE Detainer, but ICE will be notified of an inmates pending release if there is a Detainer so they can take them into custody. 

I worked for 26 years in the Hennepin County Jail and we used to hold inmates for ICE on detainers all the time. Generally at about 9 AM every morning ICE would come and pick 2 or 3 people with immigration holds and take them to an Immigration Judge in Bloomington. They had a hearing at 11 AM and the judge would decide whether to hold them or not. Then at some point we got a letter from Sheriff Rich Stanek and Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman (if memory serves 2014) stating we could no longer hold inmates for ICE on a Detainer. The practice became that ICE would be notified of their release and if they got there in time they arrested them, if not they walked free. 

This practice creates a public safety threat. An inmate on an ICE detainer can be anyone from someone who overstayed a student VISA to someone wanted for murder in another country. Now they might walk free. This also means ICE has to go into the community and find them creating a safety issue for ICE agents and others who may be present.

Sadly this dangerous practice is enforced by recent Court rulings. In 2017 Anoka County got fined $30,000 for holding an inmate for ICE after being booked in after a traffic accident! This lawsuit was filed by the ACLU.

Currently Carver County is fighting both the ACLU and MN Attorney General Keith Ellison on this very issue. Here's the lawsuit. I hope Carver County prevails and common sense can again rule the day. The ACLU and Keith Ellison seem more concerned with non-citizens then public safety.

Sheriff's take an oath of office to uphold both the Minnesota Constitution and the United States Constitution. I believe holding someone in the Country illegally for ICE serves both of those. 

There is a misnomer that cooperating with ICE is somehow not local law enforcements job. Critics claim that local law enforcement are stopping and holding people for ICE. This is simply not true. A local cop or Sheriff's Deputy can't arrest someone solely on being an illegal alien. But if they are arrested on a local or State crime they certainly should honor an Immigration detainer just like they honor Holds for other Counties and States.

Hopefully Carver County is victorious in this lawsuit and the safer practice of holding illegal aliens with an ICE Detainer will again become reality. Until then it's refreshing to see County's like Anoka cooperating as much as they can with ICE.

NY National Guard member charged with bringing contraband to inmates

Last February some NY Correctional Officers went on strike. The National Guard  replaced the striking CO's. This caused some dangerous problems.

The Times Union is reporting that "A National Guard member charged with selling drugs and phones to inmates."

Full Story

One third of Stillwater inmates already transferred out

KSTP is reporting- The decision to close the second-oldest prison in Minnesota continues to trouble some state lawmakers. They’ve been raising questions ever since May 15, when Gov. Tim Walz and legislative leaders announced the closing of the Stillwater prison as part of a budget deal.

It appears to be too late to do anything to stop the closure because, as of this week, about 400 of the 1,200 inmates have been transferred to other correctional facilities.

“I was notified two days before they had the press conference, so it came as a complete shock to me and the representatives of this district,” says Sen. Karin Housley, R-Stillwater, about the Stillwater closing announcement.

Housley and two other Republican Senators issued a news release earlier this month continuing to question the move.

“My first concern regarding the closing of Stillwater Prison was the lack of public hearings or discussion by the proper legislative committees that have jurisdiction in this area,” Sen. Warren Limmer, R-Maple Grove, says in the news release. “Stillwater Prison houses violent and predatory inmates, and after meeting with numerous area corrections officers, it is clear that the decision to close Stillwater is hasty and will do nothing but lead to the further erosion of public safety throughout Minnesota.”

 Full Story KSTP

The story goes on to say that- The 450 correctional workers at Stillwater will be offered jobs elsewhere in the system.

It should be remembered that AFSCME the Correctional Officers Union was never notified of this major change and opposed it.

In violation of PREA ordered to strip search an opposite gender

 

Law Enforcement Today is reporting-

MILFORD, MA – A female corrections officer out of Massachusetts says she faced retaliation from her employer after pushing back against a policy imposed upon corrections employees forcing female officers to strip search biologically male inmates who self-identify as female.

FULL STORY

Happy Independence Day

 

Freeborn County Sheriff suing Minnesota

 KAALTV is reporting that 

(ABC 6 News) — Freeborn County Sheriff Ryan Shea announced he is taking legal action against the State of Minnesota to prevent a new law from going into effect on July 1.

According to a letter posted to the Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office’s Facebook page, the legal action pertains to a new law that would require Minnesota jails to continue to administer the same prescription medication prescribed to inmates that were prescribed prior to their confinement.

The new law, according to Sheriff Shea, could be “harmful” and bring with it “potentially deadly consequences.”

Sheriff Shea said the Freeborn County Adult Detention Center contracts with Advanced Correctional Healthcare to provide medical care at the jail, and the law “takes away their ability to practice medicine using their training, experience, education, and expertise.”

Sheriff Shea expressed further concern that medical professionals at the jail may not always be able to get ahold of health care professionals who prescribed the medication to get permission to possibly take inmates off the prescriptions.

Sheriff Shea said there are many times where individuals come to the jail with prescriptions that they have not taken for weeks, potentially counteract with street drugs they have taken, improperly obtained prescriptions, or prescriptions that are no longer appropriate for their mental health state.

As a result, Sheriff Shea stated that restarting these medications at the beginning of their confinement could cause adverse health effects, putting ACH, Freeborn County, and the FCSO at risk for civil lawsuits.

Sheriff Shea also stated these prescriptions would come at the cost of taxpayer dollars since it is an unfunded mandate by the state.

The legal action calls for a temporary restraining order and injunction to prevent 2025 session chapter 35, article 5, section 7 from going into effect.

Happy Memorial Day

 

Remember the Fallen