Big Horn County Commission hears concerns over potential ICE agreements

On Feb. 3, Valmore Gibson addressed the county commissioners with his concerns about ICE. Gibson said he had never appeared in front of a board like this. He told the commission he had read in the newspaper about a proposal the county had received from ICE to use the county’s jail and deputies to enforce immigration laws. 

“I came to Wyoming in October 1979 and found a place I could raise my family. Where they could be safe. Where my kids could walk to school. Where I could feel safe. Where they could have that freedom.” 

He continued that he has worked at the sugar factory (in Worland) for over 20 years. “I’ve seen immigration at work, and it works. I see and hear all this turmoil. I see on the news all the people are close to rioting. Objecting to the abuses shown by these people (ICE). I would say to leave them (immigrants) to their own devices” 

Gibson added that the communities here are safer than the cities. He has been here 45 years and has no intention of going anywhere else. “I sure don’t want people like that (ICE) as my neighbors. On top of that, our law enforcement officers are sworn to protect and serve us. Not the federal government. Don’t put them in conflict by making them join forces.”  He gave an example of a report out of Texas where firefighters had to go on ICE raids to capture people that were working and were in the U.S. legitimately. 

He added, “I just don’t think it is conscionable to stand by and let that happen here. I know we need the money for the jail. I know your jobs are hard and I appreciate that. I feel strongly about this. Please take that all into consideration. We have something that is very priceless.” 

Commission chair Deb Craft thanked Gibson for coming in. She noted the county has received some phone calls as well. 

Sheriff Ken Blackburn told commissioner Craft he would love to respond. He noted he has been sheriff for 19 years. He thanked Gibson and said he appreciated what he had to say. Blackburn continued that there was an article in the paper that “didn’t come off quite right.” He noted that was partly his fault. “I gave them the information. I gave them several comments and what I want to tell you about. I agree that Big Horn County is a special place. We’ve worked for 19 years to keep a little bit of Mayberry in an ever darkening world.

“One of the things we were doing and I’m aware of what is going on with the diversity or division that is happening with that. There is the financial component, the paper got that pretty accurate. A lot of the comments on that (post on the newspapers’ Facebook page) were that there is not a huge immigration problem here. There is not but there are some problems that need to be dealt with. I explored with ICE themselves for a very distinct reason. It was the opportunity to be proactive and maintain exactly what you are asking for. That is maintain local control.” 

He continued that the county attorneys are “fastidiously” looking at the contracts for loopholes and what the county would “owe them” (ICE). There are many unanswered questions. At one point in the discussion, he noted that the attorneys are concerned and critical of the contracts. 

“The one thing I want you to understand is that if we sit back and do nothing then in fact they will come in and do what they want to. Federal agencies will do what federal agencies do.

“My record is very clear with federal agencies … the Forest Service, BLM and other agencies that have come in on our forest and have done a lot of things. Most recently there was a cave issue on a rescue. The BLM had an opinion on it. We had a pretty firm talking about the protection of the citizens on that. I can get you in touch with that BLM ranger if you want to. Protecting the citizens of this county has long been one of my responsibilities. I take it seriously.” 

Referring back to the newspaper story Blackburn said what he thinks wasn’t accurately reported was that the discussion with ICE was a proactive step to maintain local control. “We have not entered into any agreements. We are just exploring it. It is a good thing to get the comments (on Facebook). We’ve had a lot of pros and some negatives. I don’t want that division in our county, just like you don’t.” 

He noted that he can’t guarantee ICE won’t come as he doesn’t have control over what they do. His sincere thought along with the financial incentive was so that if the county was “exploding” then the county would have the option of handling them within the county. “I said we would only do this if it had a criminal nature attached to it. We are aware of several people in this area who have questionable immigration status, and I would just refer back to our 19-year record that we are consistent if people get on the law enforcement radar, then in fact we deal with what we have to deal with.” He continued that the SO has been very good and straight forward about “live and let live whenever possible.” 

He feels he has done his due diligence to do the right thing for the county. “The process on this is to potentially take some local control on this. It may not work and we may find out that it won’t work and if it does, we will deal with that down the road. The thought was sincerely for the benefit of Big Horn County. To keep an element of control on this so we could hopefully keep some of that from coming to our doorstep. I will say, I am cautious of any federal overreach. I will say that they swore to defend the same constitution that we did. Sometimes how we get there and what we did there, people find how not to do something rather than finding ways to do something.

Blackburn noted that he has said he would not do anything without the full support of the commissioners and the county elected officials or the county attorneys. With his forthcoming retirement, the new sheriff may do something different. He welcomes discussion on the matter with anyone that would like to talk to him. He added that he doesn’t believe a “Minnesota” will happen here because there are not many immigration issues here. He explained he has had conversations with ICE about coming into the county unannounced and causing problems. He doesn’t want that. 

AIRPORTS/LAND PLANNING

Paul Thur and Stephanie May gave department reports. Thur started with presenting a lease agreement for lot 40 at the Greybull airport.  The commissioners held on the approval until the airport board reviewed the lease. 

There was some discussion about doing an electrical expansion on the east side of the ramp.  The county paid for the extension on the west side. Jolley commented that it may be time to have the airport board share the cost on projects.   This is an item for further discussion.  

Thur gave an update on a boneyard lease extension request. The commission approved the request.   He also reported the status of the planes that had been auctioned off. 

The commissioners reviewed and approved the Berlinger sub-division. The Planning and Zoning (P & Z) board held a public meeting regarding the proposed subdivision regulations. No public comments were made in person or via phone. The board did not make the recommendation to bring them forth to the commission for final approval. 

In other business, the commission accepted the official resignation letter of Sheriff Blackburn.