Fed’s new immigration ‘sanctuary’ designation for rural Minnesota counties leaves officials baffled

WASHINGTON — When the administrator of Pipestone County saw that it is on the latest U.S. Department of Homeland Security watchlist for “sanctuary” cities and counties, he was confused.

The rural county hugging the South Dakota border with a population below 10,000 people has never declared itself a sanctuary for undocumented immigrants. More than 60% of voters there supported President Donald Trump last fall.

“It makes no sense why this is going on,” Steve Ewing, Pipestone County’s administrator, said Friday. “Tell you the truth, we don’t know where this even came from.”

DHS has left a lot of Minnesota officials flummoxed by the agency’s list of “sanctuary jurisdictions.”

The distinction is important because it could lead to funding cuts and DHS said it would “pursue all necessary legal remedies and enforcement measures” against locales that refuse to help the Trump administration’s deportation efforts.

Some Minnesota municipalities on the list were unsurprising. The state’s largest cities — Minneapolis and St. Paul — have adopted policies to not help federal agents deport undocumented immigrants. They have not openly declared themselves to be “sanctuary cities,” but they have prepared to fight.

“I’m full of concern that our president and the White House are asserting power it does not have,” said St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, who called out bullying tactics. Carter worries about the fate of nearly $200 million in federal funding for Minnesota’s capital city.

“I think it is mean-spirited, and I think it is outside the law,” the mayor said.

The DHS list also includes the state of Minnesota and 20 mostly rural and Republican-leaning counties like Lyon and Nobles, home to many immigrants working in pork and turkey packinghouses and other agricultural operations there.

Sheriff Eric Wallen, reached by phone in Marshall, said he was “baffled” that Lyon County was listed.

“As far as I know, we’re doing everything that the law allows us to do,” he said.

Friday morning, the sheriff called ICE, only to be put on hold. He said he hung up after realizing he wasn’t going to be transferred to someone.

“I have not spoken with any of those people from those agencies,” Wallen said. “I have not been informed as to why they think we should be on this list.”

DHS on Friday issued a statement to the Minnesota Star Tribune saying the list was compiled using a number of factors, including self-identification as a sanctuary entity, “noncompliance” with federal law enforcement, “restrictions on information-sharing” and “legal protections” for undocumented people.

Officials did not explain why specific counties were included.

“The list is actively reviewed, will be regularly updated, and can be changed at any time,” said a DHS spokesman. “President Trump and Secretary [Kristi] Noem have been clear: Sanctuary jurisdictions should immediately cease violation of federal law and cooperate with law enforcement.”

Local officials said that explanation did not help.

In central Minnesota’s Stearns County, Joe Perske, a longtime county commissioner, said he and other local officials thought they were cooperating with federal law enforcement to the extent of what is legal in Minnesota.

“We are cooperating to the full extent of the law, but by the same token, we want to make sure people’s rights are protected,” Perske said.

County Attorney Janelle Kendall explained that Stearns County complies with ICE but does not hold people for the federal government if they are in jail on county charges.

Stearns County, which includes St. Cloud, has never taken action regarding a “sanctuary county” designation, its leaders said.

But, according to Perske, they’ve made strides in working with the Somali and Latino community, protecting immigrants’ rights, including implementing a community policing agreement in 2021 signed by the sheriff’s office and several community groups.

“We have a good number of immigrant workers at meatpacking [facilities] and large dairy farms in the western part of the county,” Perske said.

The absence of a detailed explanation from DHS left some local officials scrambling for answers.

Richard Hodsdon, attorney for the Minnesota Sheriff’s Association, said no counties have declared themselves sanctuaries from immigration enforcement. There’s not even a legal definition in federal law for what it means to be a sanctuary city, county or state.

“It is simply a label with no legal significance that creates tremendous political pressure,” Hodsdon said.

Many sheriffs remain reluctant to honor ICE detainer requests because of legal liability. Immigration offenses are technically a civil issue, and if law enforcement entities hold someone beyond their legal authority under criminal law, they can be sued for infringing on civil rights and other violations.

Anoka and Nobles counties already have lost legal cases related to ICE detainers, and Carver County is facing a lawsuit that accuses it of slow-walking the release of an inmate wanted by immigration agents.

Hodsdon says DHS urged law enforcement agencies across the country to sign agreements to help with immigration enforcement. A handful of Minnesota counties have signed on — including Cass, Crow Wing, Freeborn, Itasca, Jackson and Kandiyohi. None of those counties is on the new DHS list.

However, Hodsdon says agreeing to cooperate doesn’t end the legal liability sheriffs and other law enforcement can face. Minnesota officials have pressed federal agencies on that concern and the response has been: “You’re on your own.”

Some county officials recounted the letters they’d been sent in December by America First Legal, a group founded by Trump adviser Stephen Miller and most recently led by Brooke Rollins, now Trump’s Agriculture Department secretary.

Those letters said: “We have identified your jurisdiction as a sanctuary jurisdiction that is violating federal law.”

In Pipestone, Ewing said his county is not accustomed to being in the middle of a national political storm.

“I’ll tell you, we are following state statute,” Ewing said. “But we’re between a rock and a hard place.”

JP Lawrence and Jenny Berg of the Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this story.