Ogden on ICE
NEWS
Council members Kevin Lundell and Alicia Washington presenting a proposed resolution to community members on Sunday, Feb. 15. Photo by Kari Harbath
Originally published on Substack by Cathy McKitrick
What happens when the levers of government appear to be broken? This might be one of those times – and residents in this diverse northern Utah city wrestle with the all-too-real notion that Ogden could be next for scattershot immigration crackdowns.
“This is about brown shirts with no accountability patrolling our communities. You have a very small window of time to act,” Ogden resident William Mitchell told the City Council in early March. “Before long you will lose that ability to get in front of this nightmare that is being pressed upon us.”
In early January, people nationwide watched the horror that played out in Minneapolis when a federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Good as she tried to drive away from the area.
Cell phone footage, taken from multiple angles, directly contradicted what federal officials – including President Donald Trump – claimed had happened as they tried to characterize Good as a domestic terrorist rather than a woman who cared deeply about her neighbors.
Then on Jan. 24, ICE officers shot 37-year-old intensive care nurse Alex Pretti – multiple times – marking the second tragic killing in Minneapolis since “Operation Metro Surge” began.
Minneapolis was not the first – and won’t be the last – American city where generously-funded ICE objectives play out.
“We have pictures of them masked, no badges or identifiers. No license plates on unmarked black SUVs driving right over there,” Ogden resident Joshua Kreeke told the City Council on March 3 as he pointed westward.
Kreeke urged them to help protect neighborhoods as ICE agents work to meet quotas.
“This is getting much bigger than you realize, a lot faster than you know. You’re out of time, your delay is about to backfire. We need a written policy that defines what Ogden Police and City employees will not do,” Kreeke said.
Ogden resident Emily Fox also urged Council members to take action: “Law-abiding citizens and residents, no matter their status, still have rights that need to be respected. And we need our representatives to stand firm behind the Constitution, so that when our rights are being crossed and we call for help, we know that help is going to be there.”
Earlier that day in a Council work session, Ogden Council members Kevin Lundell and Alicia Washington informed their colleagues that they had to withdraw their non-binding resolution, “Affirming Community Trust Through Public Safety,” because they discovered it violates state law that legislators approved in 2025.
While their statement of support would likely have little impact in restraining ICE, it might have offered a measure of comfort to immigrants and undocumented workers who no longer feel safe in the community.
Kayla Henriksen, a local secondary teacher in Ogden, spoke to that fear as she addressed the council: “My students are afraid that they’re going to come home and their families won’t be there. They’re afraid that they’re going to be picked up outside the school, whether they’re citizens or not. Everybody is afraid. Whether you think that fear is founded or not, we need you to show us that you care about us, that you care about trust in our community by keeping ICE out of our neighborhoods.”
Mayor Ben Nadolski and Ogden Police Chief Jacob Sube have said they have no plans to enter into 287g agreements as other law enforcement agencies have done – including the Weber County Sheriff.
Such collaboration with ICE has limited scope, allowing trained officers to to check immigration status of individuals who have been jailed on criminal charges and to notify ICE with that information.
Critics of 287g agreements, including the ACLU of Utah, argue that they lead to racial profiling, erode trust in police officers, and place municipalities at risk of legal liability.
STAY TUNED
During the March 3 Council session, councilmember Lundell said they would continue to have discussions and look for tools they can use to reaffirm community safety and trust.
Mayor Nadolski spoke to dilemmas they face moving forward.
“What we’re finding is that we don’t control and we don’t have the authority and we don’t have the legal ability to change the things we’re being asked to change. It doesn’t land here,” Nadolski said, noting that if federal officials and agencies are breaking federal law, they should be held accountable.
“But the system’s not set up to where it’s my police officers that hold them to account,” Nadolski said. “There’s a justice system for that.”
However, he acknowledged that City Council chambers is where Ogden residents can have their say.
During the March 3 public comment period, Ogden resident Angel Castillo described existing guardrails that need to be enforced.
“In America, the government does not get to detain people without due process – and that is not a political idea, that is the Constitution,” Castillo said. “And U.S. citizens are being detained by immigration agents without judicial warrants, and some are being questioned and held before anybody verifies who they are. When this happens, this stops being about immigration, this is a law and order issue.”
According to TRACreports.org, U.S. immigration courts had a backlog of almost 3.4 million cases to process as of December 2025. From July to December 2025, immigration courts received 130,642 new cases.
Less than two percent of these cases that involved deportation orders were based on any alleged criminal activity apart from entering the country illegally.
Nadolski praised the City’s PATH to Citizenship program: “We just finished working through our biggest cohort ever and announced recruiting for another one.”
More information on the Path to Citizenship can be found here.
During their upcoming March 10 work session, Council members will discuss an initiative – spearheaded by Councilwoman Flor Lopez and co-sponsored by Councilman Dave Graf – to expand support and funding for that program.
Along with that expansion, the initiative also includes a community and family preparedness plan that would provide key documents for all residents.