New Ogden policy pinpoints when police may offer aid during immigration enforcement actions

OGDEN — The role Ogden police should have in working with immigration officials has been the focus of particularly sharp debate following a pair of arrests of immigrants on city streets by federal agents in the presence of Ogden officers.

The arrests prompted backlash from immigrant advocates, who don't want police to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. They also prompted assurances from Mayor Ben Nadolski that plans were afoot to tweak police policy on the issue to clarify the role of officers in working with immigration agents.

On Tuesday, more than two months after Nadolski said change was in the works, Ogden police officials publicly unveiled a new administrative order applicable to officers. It explicitly states that officers are not to question those they interact with about their migratory status and that migratory status doesn't factor in provision of police services. The introduction to the document, moreover, stresses that enforcement of federal immigration law isn't the responsibility of the Ogden Police Department.

"Is everybody going to be happy with the decisions we made in this? No. But I can stand up and say I feel confident that our immigrant community does not have to fear the Ogden City Police Department. They do not have to fear calling us," said Chief Jake Sube, who addressed the Ogden City Council on the issue during a work session. "If they are a victim of a crime, I am begging and pleading with them to call the Ogden Police Department."

Order 2026-9, which actually went into effect on Oct. 19, also aims to pinpoint the circumstances when an Ogden officer may offer support during an immigrant enforcement action and the sort of prior approval, if any, required to offer such aid. Among other things, the order says:

• Ogden officers may not detain people based on administrative immigration warrants, immigration detainers or deportation orders, which, unlike judicial warrants, don't give them that sort of authority.
• If an immigration agent requests "public-safety assistance" from an Ogden officer, he or she may provide such help only after getting approval from a supervisor or getting permission "as soon as reasonably practicable." Such assistance could take the form of controlling traffic, de-escalation, creating "incident perimeters to protect persons," providing medical aid and "keeping the peace."
• Even if an officer helps at the scene of an immigration enforcement action, processing of immigrants is the sole responsibility of federal officials.
• An officer may provide emergency assistance to a federal immigration official without prior approval during "exigent circumstances," including instances when an agent is struggling with someone or public safety is threatened. "Emergency assistance is limited to the action reasonably necessary to resolve the exigency," reads the policy.
• A suspect fleeing from an immigration agent doesn't necessarily constitute an "exigent" circumstance. "As a result, an officer may not apprehend, or attempt to apprehend, a person fleeing a federal immigration official unless the officer has an independent basis for warrantless detention or arrest under Utah law," according to the policy.
• Officers who provide aid to federal immigration agents are required to complete a report detailing what happened.

The new policy comes in the wake of two immigration enforcement actions in Ogden dating to late August that involved Ogden police. Both were caught on video, prompting an uproar among some.

In an Aug. 25 incident, an Ogden officer happened upon the detention of Jonathan Paredes Rodriguez, originally from Venezuela, by an ICE agent. Paredes had sought help from the officer, there on an unrelated issue, as had the ICE agent. Ultimately, Paredes surrendered to the ICE agent as the Ogden officer looked on.

In a Sept. 3 incident, an Ogden officer helped with the detention by federal officials of Dennys Alcivar Torres, originally from Ecuador. Alcivar was struggling with federal agents, and the officer helped the officials as they tried to cuff the man.

Deputy Chief Tyler Ziegler, who also addressed the City Council at Tuesday's meeting, emphasized that Sube and Nadolski had already offered assurances about the limited role Ogden police were to take in immigration matters, even before creation of order 2026-9.

Sube and Nadolski said last January that Ogden wouldn't enter into a formal cooperative agreement with ICE on detention of immigrants, known as a 287(g) agreement. The Weber County Sheriff's Office and other agencies around Utah have entered into such accords. Ogden officials had also said they wouldn't take part in ICE raids or other enforcement actions.

'We have heard legitimate fears'

Nadolski, in his own comments to the Ogden City Council, noted the time and effort that went into crafting the new policy document.

"I want to let you all know, and I want to let the community know that we have done a lot of work to listen, that we listened to a lot of people and we will continue to listen," he said.

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He also acknowledged the concerns caused by the uptick in federal immigration enforcement action under President Donald Trump.

"We have heard legitimate fears and legitimate concerns, and I just want to validate a lot of concerns by saying that there is legitimate reason to be concerned about federal immigration policies and the way they're being carried out across the country, especially here in Utah and here in our own community," Nadolski said.

City Councilman Kevin Lundell, who has spoken out on behalf of the immigrant community, offered a positive reaction.

"It's a step forward," Lundell said.

Councilwoman Alicia Washington, who has also spoken out on behalf of the immigrant community, offered thanks for the work of police officials in crafting the new policy. On the flip side, she expressed concern with the fact that the Weber County Sheriff's Office has a cooperative arrangement with ICE, through two 287(g) accords.

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