By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Changes at the national level continue to filter down to the local level since President Donald Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20. The presence of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) van in Barton County struck fear into many just a few days later. But that vehicle was in town for the release of a detainee at the Barton County Jail on Jan. 25. Sheriff Brian Bellendir said, otherwise, not much has changed.
"We have not seen any immigration sweeps by ICE or anybody else, but we have noticed that ICE is more proactive about coming and picking up people on detainer," he said.
County departments do not have the means to check immigration status but in the event of an arrest, all subjects are run through the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database. Some subjects in that database are known to be illegal immigrants and have ICE detainers on them. By law, local agencies can hold a detainee for up to 10 days for ICE to come get them.
"Previously, before the first of the year, ICE wouldn't show," Bellendir said. "We'd just have to kick them out the door. Now, in 2-3 days, ICE is showing up and they'll pick them up and, I imagine, they'll be going through the deportation process."
Bellendir said the change will have little effect on the hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants who have not had contact with law enforcement and therefore have no ICE holds. He is curious how the changes at the border and in policy will impact the area drug trade.
"Particularly and obviously, I'm most concerned about what it's going to do in Kansas and Barton County," he said. "My hunch is that it's going to cause the prices go back up. It's going to be harder to find the dope."
Bellendir said time will tell if changes in fentanyl pricing and availability will lead to a resurgence of methamphetamine labs. The Barton County Sheriff's Office has not encountered a large-scale meth lab in more than a decade.