Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
- Gov. Spencer Cox is urging the Trump administration to replace Salt Lake City's ICE director.
- Cox seeks fewer obstacles for housing ICE detainees and more deportation funding in Utah.
- He supports deporting migrants who commit crimes, aligning with Trump's immigration policies.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Gov. Spencer Cox called on the Trump administration to replace the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement director in Salt Lake City in a letter that proposed reforms to make the detention and removal of migrants convicted of crimes easier.
Cox joined the five-member leadership team of the Utah Sheriff's Association in sending the letter, dated Jan. 2, to former ICE Director Tom Homan, who is President-elect Donald Trump's incoming border czar.
The letter, obtained by the Deseret News, made three requests: new ICE leadership in Utah, less obstacles to house ICE detainees in Utah and more funding to remove migrants who should be deported from Utah.
The letter was signed by Cox, Utah Sheriff's Association President Tracy Glover of Kane County, Wasatch County Sheriff Jared Rigby, Duchesne County Sheriff Travis Tucker, Uintah County Sheriff Steve Labrum, and Utah County Sheriff Mike Smith.
It was addressed to Homan, who will be tasked with implementing Trump's program of mass deportations, and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Trump's nominee to head the Department of Homeland Security.
Cox said the letter aims to be a "starting point" to address problems that reached their peak under the Biden administration's immigration policies, which Cox labeled "an unmitigated failure that continues to place humanitarian, public safety, and public health burdens on state and local leaders."
What did Cox request from Trump border nominees?
One of the challenges Utah faced under President Joe Biden was a lack of cooperation from federal partners at ICE, according to Cox.
Over the last few years, the Biden administration issued a slate of burdensome regulations that pressured county sheriffs to terminate their contracts with ICE to house migrant detainees.
Instead of working with local law enforcement to rent space that could meet the new requirements, Salt Lake City Field Office Director Michael Bernacke published a now-retracted statement inaccurately labeling Utah a "sanctuary state."
The first request in Cox's letter to Noem and Homan is for an immediate change in Salt Lake City's ICE leadership.
"We ask you to immediately transfer Michael Bernacke," the letter says. "Mr. Bernacke no longer has any credibility or good faith with the Cox administration or the larger Utah law enforcement community — an untenable situation at any time, but especially in this current crisis."
Attempts to reach Bernacke via email and phone were unsuccessful.
Cox's second request is for Noem and Homan to consider altering the "unreasonable" detention requirements for ICE detainees.
The Biden administration's 700-page-long list of ICE standards includes requirements for ICE detainees in deportation proceedings to have their own entrance to a jail, to receive a specific haircut and to use a particular hand lotion.
Multiple facilities owned by counties or the state have "ample bed space" for ICE detainees awaiting transfer to the ICE detention facility in Las Vegas or awaiting deportation, Cox said. But these spaces are currently off limits.
Cox urged Noem and Homan upon entering office to adopt U.S. Marshals Service standards or states' standards for ICE detainees.
In his third and final request, Cox urged Noem and Homan to approve additional funding for Utah to adequately support the Trump administration's effort "to quickly deport those who pose a threat to public safety."
These funds would be used to increase the transportation of ICE detainees from Utah to the Las Vegas facility. More funds are also needed to increase bed space in Las Vegas, where there are only 40 available beds for ICE detainees from Utah, Nevada, Idaho and Montana, Cox said.
There is also a proposal on the table to create a detention center in Utah.
"That will not be nearly enough given the scope of the problem," Cox said. "Again, our county sheriffs are willing to help and have available space if there is a willingness to dedicate funding and develop common sense standards."
What has Cox said about deportations?
Following Trump's win in the November general election, Cox has repeatedly spoken about his view that migrants who are in the country illegally and then break Utah law should be deported.
In November, Cox released a statement outlining five policy initiatives to increase coordination between federal and local partners to identify and deport "more illegal immigrants who have committed crimes and pose a threat to public safety."
These initiatives include adding checkpoints where those who have been arrested for a crime can be identified as migrants who entered the country illegally and working with the state Legislature to pass policies related to criminal behavior by migrants who have entered the country illegally.
Multiple Utah sheriffs, including Glover and Smith, told the Deseret News they were enthusiastic to have an administration that prioritized deporting dangerous criminals who are in the country illegally. But they questioned whether it would be the best use of local resources to implement mass deportations of all migrants who entered the country illegally.
In a December press conference, Cox clarified that his support for Trump's deportation agenda extends beyond removing migrants who have committed violent crimes after entering the country illegally to also include those who are in the country without proper documentation or residency status.
"If you commit crimes, I don't care if they're violent or nonviolent, yes, you should not be here," Cox said. "You shouldn't have been here in the first place, but you definitely should not be here."
Cox has reaffirmed his commitment to the Utah Compact on Immigration, a statement signed by hundreds of Utah leaders in 2010 that balances the rule of law, a recognition of federal authority on immigration, an opposition to policies that separate families and an aspiration to integrate migrants into the economy.
The statement was followed a year later by a historic package of state laws under the same name that included a guest worker program for undocumented migrants.
"The principles of the compact, I think, are still very important," Cox told the combined Deseret News and KSL editorial boards in December.
