How immigration enforcement extends beyond agencies with ICE agreements

Several Wyoming law enforcement agencies partner with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to enforce federal immigration laws. The reach of those partnerships can extend beyond agencies with official ICE agreements. 

In Laramie County, reports show that some immigration arrests carried out by the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office, which signed an ICE Task Force agreement, originated with Cheyenne police officers. Because the Cheyenne Police Department doesn’t currently have a similar ICE agreement, which would allow local officers to conduct some immigration enforcement during routine policing, it funnels those cases to the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office. 

A March 16 arrest report from the sheriff’s office, for example, states that a deputy “responded to Love’s Travel Plaza to assist Cheyenne Police Department with an immigration investigation.” At the truck stop, the deputy met a man who “did not speak or write English,” as well as two Cheyenne police officers, one of whom “assisted with translation.”  

After finding that the man “did not have authorization to be in the United States,” the deputy placed him under immigration arrest and booked him into the Laramie County Detention Center. The report doesn’t state why Cheyenne police initially stopped the man. 

Another report from March 26 states that a sheriff’s deputy assisted a Cheyenne police officer with an immigration investigation after the officer stopped a man for “driving the wrong way on a one-way street” and found that he had “no documentation.” The deputy placed the man under immigration arrest and booked him into the Laramie County jail. 

Cheyenne Police Department Spokesperson Alexandra Farkas explained in an email that if a Cheyenne police officer comes into contact with someone who may be in the country without authorization, they “will request assistance through dispatch, who would route the request to an officer assigned to the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office ICE Task Force.”

Farkas said the Cheyenne Police Department doesn’t keep track of how often officers request help with immigration investigations. 

“Since the [Cheyenne Police Department] does not conduct immigration enforcement investigations, we don’t maintain that data,” Farkas wrote in an email. She pointed WyoFile to the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office, which she said “would be responsible for documenting those investigations and may be able to provide that information.” 

According to records from the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office, the Cheyenne Police Department has requested deputies’ help with immigration investigations 25 times between October 2025, when a group of Laramie County deputies first became certified to enforce immigration laws, and June 2026. 

Asked why Cheyenne Police Department Chief Mark Francisco chose to coordinate with sheriff’s deputies to conduct immigration investigations rather than signing the department up for its own Task Force agreement, Farkas said there are already enough local resources to conduct immigration enforcement.

“At this time, it appears the resources the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office has dedicated to this initiative are sufficient to meet the needs of our community,” Farkas wrote. 

Laramie County’s other local police agency, the Pine Bluffs Police Department, also requested help with immigration investigations from Laramie County deputies before inking its own ICE Task Force agreement in April. 

A March 14 report from the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office states that a deputy was dispatched to Pine Bluffs after a Pine Bluffs police officer “requested a deputy to complete an immigration investigation.” At the scene, the deputy observed the officer “speaking with three occupants outside of their vehicle.” After an ICE agent approved arresting the three individuals, the deputy brought them to the Laramie County Detention Center. The report doesn’t state why Pine Bluffs police officers initially stopped the vehicle. 

Laramie County Sheriff’s Office records show that the Pine Bluffs Police Department requested help from the sheriff’s office three times to conduct immigration investigations.

Pine Bluffs Police Chief Austin Smith didn’t respond to WyoFile’s inquiry before publishing time. Before signing his department up for the Task Force agreement, Smith told Wyoming News Now that the ICE contract “just streamlines and gives us the tools instead of playing phone tag with the federal government.”