South Carolina Sheriff Under Fire for Refusing to Cooperate With ICE: Congressional Investigation Launched into Uncooperative Jurisdictions Nationwide; Mace Threatens Charleston Co. Sheriff with Subpoena, Sheriff Lays Out Procedure

South Carolina sheriff under fire for refusing to cooperate with ICE:

Congressional investigation launched into uncooperative jurisdictions nationwide

A South Carolina sheriff is under fire for refusing to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

U.S. House representatives who chair the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability subcommittees are demanding answers from a Charleston County, South Carolina, sheriff in response to its noncompliance with ICE detainer requests.

U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-SC, and U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wis., sent a letter to Sheriff Kristin Graziano about her refusal to cooperate with ICE. They also announced they are investigating instances of local law enforcement agencies nationwide that refuse to cooperate with ICE.

They’re referring to a federal immigration law 287(g) program that authorizes ICE to designate some state and local law enforcement officers with specific immigration officer functions under its oversight. ICE explains the 287(g) program “enhances the safety and security of our nation’s communities” by allowing ICE officers “to partner with state and local law enforcement agencies to identify and remove U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. who are amenable to removal from the U.S. before they are released into the community.”

ICE also maintains that arresting and removing noncitizens “who undermine the safety of our nation’s communities and the integrity of U.S. immigration laws” is paramount.

Graziano, who was elected sheriff in November 2020, canceled the county’s cooperative agreement with ICE on Jan. 5, 2021, after she was sworn into office. Similarly, Harris County, Texas, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez did the same after he was elected in 2016, ending Texas’ largest county’s participation in the program in January 2017.

Local jurisdictions ending cooperative agreements with ICE because of so-called sanctuary city policies have been detrimental to arresting, detaining and removing some of the most violent offenders, ICE argues. Under the Biden-Harris administration, ICE Deputy Director Patrick Lechleitner said sanctuary policies are hurting Americans and noncitizens.

Some local jurisdictions “have reduced their cooperation with ICE, to include refusal to honor ICE detainer requests, even for noncitizens who have been convicted of serious felonies and pose an ongoing threat to public safety,” he said in a letter to Congress, due to their so-called “sanctuary city” policies. “However, ‘sanctuary’ policies can end up shielding dangerous criminals who often victimize those same communities,” he said.

In addition to ending the sheriff’s office 287(g) agreement with ICE, Graziano’s office also refused to honor at least 51 ICE detainer requests, according to ICE data. —>READ MORE HERE

Mace threatens Charleston Co. sheriff with subpoena, sheriff lays out procedure:

The sheriff of Charleston County is responding to U.S. First District Congresswoman Nancy Mace’s threat of a Congressional subpoena over Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer records.

Mace, a Republican, sent Democratic incumbent Sheriff Kristen Graziano a letter Friday stating the House Oversight Committee launched an investigation into Graziano‘s refusal to provide the documents, “citing willful obstruction.”

Mace, who chairs the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Information Technology and Government Innovation, said the records which detailing Graizano’s handling of ICE requests and the termination of the County’s 287(g) agreement, “have significant public safety implications.”

Graziano released a statement Friday afternoon claiming Mace “is on the side of chaos,” adding that this “latest attempt of bullying and deflection does not deter me from our clear mission.”

Graziano’s statement continued:

We follow the law. And I will say it again: Nancy Mace is a liar. Just because she and her congressional colleagues cannot solve our country’s federal immigration problem doesn’t mean they get to make it mine. It does not make it the problem of the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office or any other local law enforcement agency in the United States. Because Congress has failed to do its job, lawmakers like her think it’s their job to force someone else to do their work. Not on my watch.

This is an abuse of power, and this is what the taxpayers of the United States are paying for. She is using her position to nationalize and influence a local election. I welcome her and her colleagues to send us a subpoena – to prove we are following the law and doing everything by the book. Bring it on. We are doing what hundreds of other detention centers across the country are choosing to do – to stay in our lane. What is Nancy Mace doing to compel the detention centers in her own district to participate in 287(g)?”

Graziano released a series of documents showing examples of ICE detainer requests and court orders: —>READ MORE HERE

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