Statement from Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty regarding recent DHS proposals

"Local county jails hold people before their cases are resolved, not after they are convicted. Handing people to ICE before conviction strips our community of the accountability it deserves and harms victims by robbing them of a court process. If a person is convicted, the prison system shares information with ICE.

The Hennepin County Jail already provides legally required information to ICE. Using local taxpayer resources to further assist the federal government in civil immigration enforcement is inappropriate. Additionally, the Basic Ordering Agreements (BOA) proposed by DHS would violate Minnesota state law. Their offer to pay county sheriffs to violate state law is outrageous.

There are legal ways for DHS to arrest people coming out of our jails, such as obtaining a warrant from a judge. Yet they are choosing to pursue illegal pathways."