(Dubuque, Iowa) – Dubuque County Sheriff Joseph Kennedy declined to join the federal 287(g) ICE Task Force program. Kennedy told KCRG-TV, that cracking down on immigration is one thing, but ICE should hire the personnel needed and do their job, not order other agencies to do the work for them. The 287(g) ICE Task Force program authorizes local and state law enforcement to carry out immigration enforcement duties.

Sheriff Kennedy says his office has and will enforce those laws and cooperate with federal immigration requests, including ICE, if they need assistance in picking-up a wanted party, but that it’s not in the best interest of the sheriff’s department to give up their personnel to do ICE’ job full-time.

Kennedy told KCRG the Trump administration’s directive is “heavy-handed,” and demands the Sheriff’s Office pull deputies off the street to become trained ICE enforcement agents. It comes as the office uses overtime to meet minimum staffing levels. In 2024, the county spent around $120,000 on about 2,200 hours worth of overtime pay. In a letter addressed to the Dubuque County Board of Supervisors, Kennedy says the program asks law enforcement agencies to “sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that essentially force(s) local agencies to have trained ‘ICE’ representatives on their staff to do the government’s immigration work.”

In the letter, Kennedy warned that Dubuque will likely be placed on a list by the federal government, flagging Dubuque as a “sanctuary jurisdiction” due to the fact that Kennedy is not joining the program. Kennedy argues it inaccurately describes the county. According to Kennedy, the list was created for the “sole purpose of ‘shaming’ the City.  However, an executive order by President Trump suggests otherwise, authorizing the Attorney General to “pursue all necessary legal remedies and enforcement measures to end these violations and bring such jurisdictions into compliance with the laws of the United States.”

Kennedy plans to discuss his decision to reject the federal 287(g) ICE Task Force program invitation with the Dubuque County Supervisors during their May 19th meeting.