He went through what he estimated to be about 10 to 20 drafts to make sure he could get it right and then he posted it on his Sheriff Facebook page.

Arbon marveled at the response the 600-plus word post titled “All Eyes on ICE” generated.

Currently, there have been over 500 comments, 200 shares and 2,000 reactions.

Most of those reactions, in the form of emojis, have been positive. Only 16 reactions have been an emoji generally used in a negative way to respond to a post.

According to Arbon, nothing he posts on his Sheriff’s Facebook page has received any traction until this post.

Suffice it to say, it’s a topic people have a lot of interest in.

In his post, Arbon used the words “grounded” and “steady” to describe the Weber County Sheriff’s Office’s approach to immigration enforcement.

“The Weber County Sheriff’s Office has enjoyed our professional relationship with our federal partners, including ICE, for decades. We support ICE,” he said. “We are committed to enforcing the law impartially, protecting lawful expression, and responding decisively when public safety is threatened. This is not about politics or ideology. It is about maintaining order so that families feel safe, businesses can operate, and communities can thrive.”

In a pair of interviews with the Standard-Examiner, Arbon elaborated on what it means to work with ICE and why the Weber County Sheriff’s Office chooses to do so.

Cooperating with ICE

Arbon said Weber County has an agreement with ICE on the Task Force Model and the Jail Enforcement Model, two of three ways ICE says law enforcement agencies can help on its website.

According to ice.gov, the Task Force Model gives officers permission “to enforce limited immigration authority while performing routine police duties, such as identifying an alien at a DUI checkpoint and sharing information directly with ICE.”

Officers in this model, according to ice.gov., “may also exercise limited immigration authority as active participants on ICE-led task forces.”

Through the Jail Enforcement Model, ice.gov explains, officers are allowed “to identify and process removable aliens currently in (the agency’s) jail or detention facility who have pending or active criminal charges while they’re in (the agency’s) custody.”

Arbon said that the Sheriff’s Office doesn’t “have a team that goes out and tracks down and looks for illegals,” but he said there’s “an obligation to identify the person” when someone is pulled over, an arrest is made or there’s an investigation.

Arbon mentioned, however, that not every traffic stop that involves someone in the country illegally results in a call to ICE.

The emphasis is on those who have been identified by ICE, who have a removal order, a major criminal background or who have been previously deported.

Some days, seven or eight people may be pulled over who are in the country illegally, but they’re treated like everyone else – cited and released. And in cases where kids are in the vehicle, the family is sometimes not separated, but rather, the person in the country illegally is told to get their status in order.

The reasons to cooperate with ICE

Cooperating with ICE, Arbon said, is not a right versus left issue but about working together for public safety, and that there should be cooperation.

“If they’re legally justified and right to, I would want to work with that other agency to make sure they know the ins and outs, the demographics, the geography, all those things, right?” he said. “That’s key.

“So, in this case with ICE, ICE has every right to come in here and work, right? My belief is these large agencies across the United States that are choosing not to work (with ICE) are abdicating their responsibility to what the public expects them to do. Here’s why. The police are paid. They’re authorized to protect the public. My belief is that that they should want to be with ICE … they’re also there to protect their residents.”

Arbon believes that much turmoil could be avoided if certain jurisdictions would simply work with ICE.

“There’s a lot of hate towards ICE … but if you had the local jurisdiction there working together, I believe that a lot of these incidents of injury and assault would be reduced and maybe sometimes almost eliminated,” he said.

According to Arbon, people who have hatred toward ICE should want local law enforcement agencies to work with ICE.

“I have three chiefs. I have an operations chief, an enforcement chief and a corrections chief, and we meet all the time, often. And we plan and we look at these things,” Arbon said. “What we saw with ICE is if we take the position and believe that ICE is these bad people – and all this, let’s just say for this conversation that that’s true – I would not want ICE to come in here by themselves and just do whatever they want. But we want to work with them. So if those things are true, they’re less likely or not going to happen because we’ve partnered with them.”

He said working together helps protect the safety of the ICE agents. If an ICE officer is looking for someone who is violent or hangs out with violent people, documentation on that is valuable and can be shared.

“You know, when SWAT teams go out, they don’t just come together and attack the house,” he said. “They put a plan together, right? There’s planning that goes into this stuff. And so the opportunity for us, which we do – we work with ICE. We meet with ICE regularly. We know what they’re doing. They know what we’re doing. That’s a good partnership. That’s how you solve problems is working together.”

For Arbon, the relationship is mutually beneficial. The Weber County Sheriff’s Office helps ICE, but ICE also helps the Weber County Sheriff’s Office.

“Because a lot of the people that we’re looking for or dealing with have federal charges or are here illegally,” he said. “And so when you … merge, you know, share information to help the cause of public safety and holding those accountable, that’s where it becomes very helpful, right? You know, if ICE was to come to Weber County in a large mass, I would want to make sure I have a lot of my staff with them, right? To protect ICE, but also to protect the public. Because my responsibility is to protect everybody in the county. It’s not to protect just those in Ogden or just those in the western Weber unincorporated county, and it’s not just to protect my own guys or just ICE. It’s everybody. That’s public safety.”

Remembering who ICE agents really are

Arbon emphasized that ICE agents are people in the communities not dissimilar to everyone around them, born and raised in those communities.

“They’re locals, too,” he said. “And I’m confident that they are trained sufficiently and adequately. I know that they raise families in our communities. They go to church with all of us. They go to our basketball games. They’re part of our community.”

That doesn’t mean they are all flawless or always make perfect decisions, Arbon acknowledged, but that is true in many other professions.

“There’s the bad doctor in the hospital or nurse. We all have them,” he said. “… It’s the one person that makes everyone else look bad. And then there’s just a fever right now that I’m worried … I’m worried that this is going to spill over right here. So, also, I’m trying to get ahead of it to remind people, slow down. Let’s do what’s right. That was the purpose for this (Facebook post).”

He said unifying and respecting the law is important.

“I mean, we are a nation of laws and we should respect that,” he said. “And at the same time, we can have that and have peace. The goal is peace. Peace and public safety.”

Ogden City’s position on ICE

Ogden City Director of Communications Mike McBride forwarded a statement from Ogden Mayor Ben Nadolski that highlighted the position of Ogden City on immigration enforcement. The statement read:

“As has been stated in the past, the Ogden Police Department does not enforce, nor do its officers have the authority to enforce, federal immigration law. Our mission and purpose has always been, and will continue to be, ensuring the safety of those who live, work, and recreate in Ogden City.”

Capt. Tim Scott of the Ogden Police Department sent the Standard-Examiner an “Ogden Police Department Immigration Jurisdiction” PDF that highlighted what is “myth” and what is “fact” in Ogden City.

The myths, according to the PDF, include:

“OPD enforces immigration law and arrests people for being undocumented.”

“OPD officers ask about immigration status during traffic stops, calls, or investigations.”

“OPD works with ICE to track and deport undocumented residents.”

“OPD joins ICE ‘raids’ or sweeps in the community.”

“Reporting a crime to OPD could lead to deportation.”

The facts are as follows:

“OPD has no authority to enforce immigration law. Our focus is on criminal conduct, not immigration status.”

“Officers do not ask for immigration documents or status. It’s not part of our procedures.”

“OPD does not engage in immigration enforcement or participate in immigration enforcement operations outside the scope of criminal activity.”

“OPD does not participate in immigration ‘sweeps’ or enforcement actions based solely on immigration status.”

“Victims and witnesses are safe to call OPD. Your immigration status will not be asked for or shared when you seek help.”

Contact Standard-Examiner editor Ryan Comer at rcomer@standard.net.