ROCK SPRINGS — Sweetwater County Sheriff John Grossnickle is saying the agreement his office has with Immigration and Customs Enforcement isn’t motivated by politics following the announcement of an upcoming protest against ICE’s agreements with the SCSO and Wyoming Highway Patrol.
The Sweetwater County’s 50501 group announced it will host a “Let’s De-ICE Wyoming! Immigrants Made Sweetwater County Great!” rally Saturday from 1-3 p.m. in opposition to the ICE agreements. The group says the protests aim to highlight some concerns about cooperation between the SCSO and highway patrol and the possibility of officers acting as ICE agents taking resources away from other important matters.
Grossnickle said the agreement the SCSO has with ICE is about upholding the law and isn’t politically motivated.
“Our collaboration with ICE isn’t political,” Grossnickle told SweetwaterNOW. “Neither is it driven by prejudice or profit. It’s about upholding the law, ensuring public safety, and stewarding limited resources. Operating a jail comes at a cost, whether beds are occupied or not; under our federal contract, filling those beds helps offset expenses and eases the burden on Sweetwater County residents. It’s not a new arrangement: we’ve temporarily housed federal detainees while they’re in transport across the region for nearly two decades.”
According to Sweetwater County 50501, residents are also concerned about an uptick in local arrests of immigrants who have “broken no laws and who have lived here for decades without causing any trouble.”
“These local arrests are splitting up local families with mixed citizenship status. Participants at the rally will be invited to write letters to local and state officials,” a press release from the group states.
For Grossnickle and the SCSO, their involvement with ICE is about upholding the law.
“Our position is straightforward: it’s about unlawful immigration, not immigration itself. Like many others, my family came here lawfully over a century ago to pursue opportunity, and that tradition is part of the American story. But immigration must happen within the bounds of the law,” Grossnickle said.
Grossnickle also said the detention center is committed to guaranteeing the dignity, care and constitutional protections of inmates regardless of why they’re being held there, saying the sheriff’s office is committed to fairness, the law, and the community.
“No matter the circumstances of their detention, every person in our custody is guaranteed the same dignity, care, and constitutional protections. That’s our commitment: to fairness, the law, and the community we serve. Rather than directing frustration at the enforcement of laws already on the books, I believe our efforts might be better spent working together toward comprehensive immigration reform,” he said.
