No, Wayne County is not a sanctuary for illegal immigrants, sheriff says
Wayne County Sheriff Randy Retter speaks during a Wayne County Board of Commissioners Meeting, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, at the Wayne County Administration Building. Retter spoke about a miscommunication where the Center for Immigration Studies incorrectly labeled the county as a sanctuary for illegal immigrants.
A miscommunication with an independent non-profit organization that incorrectly labeled Wayne County as a sanctuary county has apparently been rectified.
Wayne County Sheriff Randy Retter told county commissioners at their Jan. 29 meeting that he received a complaint recently that the website for Center for Immigration Studies had listed the county as one of four across the state that “ICE has determined are not cooperating in cases of criminal aliens.”
The Center for Immigration Studies is, according to its website, an independent, non-partisan and non-profit research organization with a pro-immigrant but low immigration vision that seeks fewer immigrants but a warmer welcome for those admitted.
“The independent website is not a government-ran website,” Retter said. “They appeared to have been using information from a 2017 report from either ICE or the Department of Homeland Security, and I wasn’t able to really track down whether or not they ever updated that information.”
Upon hearing the complaint, Retter said he immediately contacted the ICE office based in Indianapolis and spoke with Assistant Field Office Director Douglas Thompson, who assured Retter that Wayne County is in compliance with all of ICE’s requests and is following all protocols.
“He wasn’t quite sure why we landed on that list for that independent website,” Retter said.
On Dec. 23, after a series of email exchanges between Retter, ICE and the Center for Immigration Studies, Wayne County was removed from the list of uncooperative counties and was not included in the organization’s most recently released list on Jan. 7.
Retter added that he took the opportunity to invite Thompson and an ICE agent in charge of regional operations to the sheriff’s office to discuss the department’s current protocols and how it can better serve ICE going forward, including providing ICE with a daily list of its jail inmates.
“I certainly can’t enforce federal laws, but I do work very closely with federal officials,” he said. “If there’s anybody that they suspect of being in the country illegally, they contact us and let us know that they have interest in that person.”
Retter said they will keep the inmates informed and hold them for the 48 hours that they are legally obligated to, letting them know immediately if they are eligible for bond.
If an inmate suspected of being in the country illegally is going to bond out, Retter said sheriff’s officials give due notice to ICE as quickly as possible to give them an opportunity to pick them up on federal charges.
“The safety of the citizens of Wayne County is paramount, and it’s certainly something that’s the highest on my list of priorities,” Retter said. “Making sure that illegal immigrant criminals that are in our county, that may threaten our citizens, are taken off the street as rapidly as possible. If there’s anything that I can do, not only to take them off the street, but to prevent them from going back into our communities, I’m going to take good steps.”
County attorney Ron Cross asked Retter about an issue that came up a couple years ago about students who are enrolled in local colleges, high schools, middle schools or elementary schools who are not in the country legally.
Retter agreed with commissioner Jeff Plasterer that his department would not be involved unless a student is arrested and is in his facility. But he said that if his department received information that a person fits the criteria of not being in the country legally, they would still work with federal authorities.
