Utah County Commissioners pass policy allowing police to share information with ICE
Jul 16, 2025, 7:10 PM | Updated: Jul 17, 2025, 9:45 pm
Utah County Commissioners have unanimously passed a policy that allows local law enforcement to share information with ICE. (Heather Peterson/KSL NewsRadio)
(Heather Peterson/KSL NewsRadio)
PROVO — Utah County Commissioners have unanimously passed a policy that will allow local law enforcement to share information with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The agreement was laid out by Utah County Sheriff Mike Smith, who said the policy is a partnership of transparency. However, hundreds of residents turned up at the Utah County Administration Building on Wednesday to voice their opposition at the meeting. It wasn’t just packed, people could barely move around in the lobby of the Utah County administration building.
On the table were three agreements under the 287g program that, on paper, look to build the working partnership between ICE and the Utah County Sheriff’s Office. As part of the program, some type of IT connection would be allowed, enabling ICE to collaborate more closely with the local law enforcement division.
Utah County Commissioner Amelia Powers Gardner told KSL NewsRadio’s Inside Sources that the agreement allows Utah County to get information about what ICE is doing.
“Utah County would not be sharing any information with ICE. This gives us the ability to get access to ICE information. Right now, ICE is in our community. They’re coming in and we have no clue where they are, we have no clue what they’re doing.”
Those who spoke against the partnership Wednesday expressed that ICE has created fear in their community, and they worry that under this agreement, ICE’s authority will go unchecked.
Twelve-year-old Adelaide Thiot shared that she had friends who just stopped showing up at school with no explanation.
“I don’t think that makes our community safer. It makes everyone more afraid,” she said. “It tears families apart. It makes kids like me scared for our friends. That’s not the kind of city I want to grow up in.”
One woman argued that Utah’s history of settlers should offer a guideline for the way the situation could be handled, but it’s not.
“Utah’s pioneer era is not over,” she said. “We are descendants of a legacy that seeks out a better life. Yet, in today’s landscape, we’re confronted with fear and division.”
Smith emphasized that the policy in question is more about informing ICE of when those in custody don’t have legal status, not about giving ICE the power to conduct raids in the community.
Related: West Jordan sets record straight after viral videos allege an ICE raid
