County sheriffs in Utah are now speaking out against a "classless" move by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which they say is trying to recruit their deputies away by offering big signing bonuses.
The "Big, Beautiful Bill" approved by Congress pumped billions of dollars into the federal immigration enforcement effort, some of those to go toward hiring more staff.
In many lines of work, top talent is always at risk of being lured away by a competitor. Law enforcement is no exception.
“State agencies, other counties, city police agencies — we’ve competed for staff,” said Kane County Sheriff Tracy Glover.
Just last month, we reported on the struggles facing Juab County Sheriff Doug Anderson.
“Since I became the sheriff, we’ve lost 26 patrol deputies. Twenty-one of those have gone to other law enforcement agencies,” Sheriff Anderson said in a July interview.
WATCH: Juab County Sheriff's Office struggling to retain deputies, may put citizens at risk
Then, some sheriffs in Utah discovered their federal partners were also among those vying for experienced cops, as the recruitment letters started coming out.
“We thought that it was classless the way that ICE decided to go about it,” Sheriff Glover said, while noting a local ICE official warned him they were coming and that they would likely offend him.
Glover also serves as the president of the Utah Sheriffs’ Association. He says deputies around the state have been receiving these emails from officials in Washington, D.C., offering $50,000 signing bonuses.
“The timing of it is just unfortunate, because we were working on a path of better collaboration, coordination with ICE,” said Sheriff Glover.
A relationship that Glover says had been tenuous for years was mending through the appointment of a new local ICE field officer.
Several counties then entered 287(G) agreements on immigration enforcement, but it’s now those same departments that Glover says are being targeted.
“For sheriffs to enter into agreements with ICE to help them do their job, and then get circled back with a memo that tries to recruit our staff with great signing bonuses, was offensive,” Sheriff Glover said. “There’s no question.”
Utah County commissioners just approved that agreement three weeks ago.
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“You know, I was angry, but not surprised,” said Sarah McConkie, who lives in Eagle Mountain and co-founded the group Indivisible Utah County.
Locals like McConkie, who spoke out against the changes, are now left to wonder what may happen if their local officers leave for these opportunities.
“Law enforcement is doing a really good job keeping my neighborhood and my kids safe,” said McConkie. “You know, they could re-hire and get to where they need to be. But if there’s a temporary lag, that could have real safety consequences.”
In responding to FOX 13 News, a DHS spokesperson said they’re recruiting 287(G) partners who have already been trained and have valuable law enforcement experience — but they did not answer questions about how this may impact their relationship with those offices.
That spokesperson added that more than $500 million from President Trump’s "Big, Beautiful Bill" will go toward increasing 287(G) partnerships with state and local law enforcement. KUER reports that seven Utah counties have currently entered those agreements.
With the 287(G) agreements being new to Utah, Glover doesn’t expect a huge impact locally, but says it’s a problem that needs to be addressed. He says in other areas, like Florida, where the agreements have been around for years, hundreds of deputies have now received the offer letters.
