ICE aims to move officers closer to Pitkin County, sheriff says

Pitkin County Sheriff Michael Buglione on Friday met with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s field office director to discuss ICE activities in the community. 

According to Buglione, the ICE field office director reached out to him because they are “looking to bring agents closer to our community.” Currently, the nearest ICE field office is in Grand Junction. 

The ICE official gave assurances that the federal agency won’t be conducting any raids or arrests in the area without the sign-off of the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office. 

“I’ve been telling the community that if there’s a bad guy in the community, I don’t care what race, religion, color, anything, who they are — I will go arrest them myself with an ICE agent,” Buglione told The Aspen Times on Friday. “As long as there is a signed warrant with the person’s name, the crime they committed, and the judge’s signature. They are aligned with that.”

The federal agency recently conducted raids at construction sites in Florida alleged to have employed illegal immigrants, according to an ICE press release. Buglione was told, however, that ICE does not have the resources to conduct those raids in Pitkin County. 

“They’re not looking to go into restaurants and not looking to go into construction sites where they don’t have the resources,” he said. “They have no one here. They have to try and fill that position.”