Riit ilo Majōl: ICE Ride-Alongs Kōbūroṃōj Bukwōn ilo Utah im Iuunṃaanḷọk Bōḷij ñan Bar Ḷōmṇak kōn Aer Jerbal iuṃwin Bujen in 287(g)

In rural Sanpete County, Utah, North Valley police patrol several small towns, including Moroni, where an elementary school, a middle school and a turkey-processing plant are part of daily life Moroni service agreement. The plant operates under the Norbest name as part of Pitman Farms and has been part of Moroni’s economy for more than 85 years. The Salt Lake Tribune; Utah MEP.

A Fountain Green resident described a very small Micronesian population in Sanpete County, living in Moroni and Mount Pleasant. The plant is a major local employer, with 500 employees, which he told Chikin Melele are mostly Hispanic but some Pacific Islanders also work there. According to the Census Bureau’s 2019-2023 Amercian Community Survey, there are 44 Pacific Islanders in Moroni which is approximately 3.6% of the town’s population. Demographic source. 

In August, the North Valley Public Safety Department signed a 287(g) agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. The agreement would allow trained local officers to perform certain immigration duties under federal supervision, with the possibility of federal funding, equipment and training. Such assistance can be appealing to rural departments trying to maintain staffing and coverage. 

North Valley had 11 officers, according to Police Chief Steve Gray. Five had completed ICE’s online training by September 30. He said ICE then requested ride-alongs so participating officers could see how federal programs and systems worked. Gray said he expected the agreement to change how his department contacted ICE after arrests for non-immigration crimes, while his officers continued their usual police work. Sanpete Messenger, October 8.

On September 30, four ICE officers arrived to join three North Valley officers on patrol. Gray said he instructed his officers to answer calls and make traffic stops as they normally would. He thought the ride-alongs were an opportunity for his officers to learn how ICE’s programs and systems worked. But over the course of the evening, those traffic stops became encounters in which federal officers questioned and detained people.

Around Moroni’s turkey plant, workers described enforcement activity increasing as their shift ended. “We finished working at 9 p.m. and after that people started getting pulled over heavily,” one employee told the Sanpete Messenger. Local officers stopped cars for traffic violations and asked for licenses. Federal officers riding along used ICE information and databases to determine immigration status before taking over the immigration portion of the encounter.

By the end of the evening, five people had been taken into immigration custody. No one detained in Sanpete County from these traffic stops were Pacific Islanders (specifically, in this case, Micronesian). However, in Moroni, the effects reached far beyond those detained. Children missed school, workers reportedly stayed home, and some local businesses closed as families became afraid to leave home.

A local resident who shared comments with Chikin Melele said members of the Hispanic community were “harassed and threatened and detained for at least some time.” He described fear that extended beyond deportation to how people might be treated during encounters with officers. In their account, that fear kept children home from school even though most were born in the United States.

The evening also left Gray reconsidering the partnership. According to the Sanpete Messenger and KUTV, participating officers raised concerns about federal tactics that conflicted with North Valley’s policies and values. Gray told the Messenger that no potential funding, equipment or training was worth the damage immigration enforcement could cause to the trust between his officers and the communities they serve.

The Sanpete Messenger received footage recorded by a worker hiding on the plant’s roof. Federal officials said no business was targeted. The available reporting does not establish arrests inside the plant.

Gray told the Messenger that he did not know the names of all five people, why ICE detained each person or where they were taken. He said local officers did not know whether federal officers acted on immigration status, a warrant or other information in their databases. Officers issued some traffic warnings and citations, but Gray did not have a complete accounting of those stops.

Local police reconsider the partnership

Local Fountain Green resident told Chikin Melele that teachers described Hispanic students staying home and that some Hispanic-owned businesses announced closures on community pages: “Businesses run by Hispanic people shut down (they posted on community pages that they would not be open).”

North Sanpete Middle School recorded 80 absences and Moroni Elementary School recorded 56 absences—which is one in five students. Superintendent O’Dee Hansen told The Salt Lake Tribune that one student reported having a parent among those detained and that the trauma was evident in the students.

Though “things are mostly back to normal now”, the enforcement had immediate workplace effects. One resident estimated to the Sanpete Messenger that only about 30% of turkey-plant employees came to work the following day. A trucker reported being told to park a load of live turkeys because too few workers were available to handle them. Sanpete Messenger, October 1.

The three participating North Valley officers also raised concerns about ICE’s tactics after the ride-alongs. Chief Gray told the Sanpete Messenger: “My officers came out and said the tactics were not how North Valley would conduct similar police work.” Local Fountain Green resident described a few voices supporting the ICE tactics, but said “everyone else is appalled.” 

Gray said aspects of the federal officers’ approach conflicted with North Valley’s policies and values: “They run under a different set of rules than we do.” He also told the newspaper that no potential funding, equipment or training was worth the damage to community trust that could result from his officers becoming involved in immigration enforcement.

Local Fountain Green resident described officers who are “liked by the community and seem like regular family guys who genuinely care about people.” He said, “If I had to guess, I would say the community backlash has played the primary role in their decision to step back” from the 287(g) agreement.

The department so far has not received federal funding under the agreement and Gray says they will not be applying for it. However, the decision to continue the 287(g) agreement remains with the governing board Sanpete Messenger, October 8.

DHS defended the operation in an October 9 response reported by KSL. It said the five detainees lacked lawful permission to remain in the United States and had criminal histories involving offenses including impaired or reckless driving and drug-paraphernalia violations. The agency did not identify which listed offenses were convictions and which were pending allegations. KSL, October 9.