Sedgwick County has entered into an agreement with ICE. What does that mean?

The Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office recently signed an agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement – but it does not allow sheriff’s deputies to enforce immigration law.

A growing number of law enforcement agencies across the country have signed onto the agreements with ICE, allowing some to arrest people they suspect of being in the country illegally.

However, Sedgwick County’s 287(g) agreement allows the office only to serve immigration detainers to jail residents under what’s called the warrant service officers model. Before the agreement, this was something only ICE officers were able to do.

“It makes no changes whatsoever, okay?” Sheriff Jeff Easter said. “Other than ICE bringing that detainer to the jail and giving it to the inmate, we now give it to the inmate. We are not going out and arresting people because they’re here illegally.”

The detainers place a hold on people in the jail for up to 48 hours to allow ICE to take them into custody.

“We’re not going to get involved if someone entered the country illegally,” Easter said, “but while they’re here, if they’re committing crimes… I don’t think they belong here at that point, and you can quote me on that.”

Easter said a growing number of detainers have been placed on jail residents since the beginning of the year when President Donald Trump was inaugurated.

So far this year, 205 detainers have been placed on jail residents, according to the sheriff’s office. In 2024, the jail received only 85 detainers.

Easter said he’s not interested in participating in an agreement with ICE that would allow local law enforcement to enforce immigration law.

“I don’t feel that that’s our job to do their job,” Easter said.

Although Easter said not much changes under the new agreement, the ACLU of Kansas warns that the issue can fall back on taxpayers.

“It’s still a problem,” ACLU Kansas Executive Director Micah Kubic said. “If ICE asks… the county to detain someone and ICE was wrong about who it was… it will be the Sedgwick County Sheriff that does that, and it will be Sedgwick County taxpayers who pay the bill for those wrongful detentions.”

Kubic also said training was minimal for law enforcement officials to be a part of the program.

“The lack of training and the desire to detain people regardless of the consequences, that is a recipe for constitutional violations that will be done in the name of the people of Sedgwick County,” he said. “Folks should be concerned about that.”

Easter said only one of its deputies will take the four-hour-long training to be a part of the program. That deputy is also the only one who will be able to serve the detainers.

That deputy has yet to receive the training, and a memorandum between the two agencies is not finalized, according to Easter. That’s caused a delay in the sheriff’s office being able to serve ICE detainers, and Easter said they’re unsure of when they’ll be able to begin to do so.

While Sedgwick County deputies won’t be enforcing immigration law, Kubic said it’s still important for county residents to know their rights.

That includes having a right to consult with a lawyer if someone is detained by ICE, according to the ACLU.

More information and other resources can be found on their website.

This story was originally published November 21, 2025 at 10:30 AM.