Lincoln County, along with 20 other counties in Nebraska, has been characterized as a sanctuary for illegal immigrants by an organization called the Center for Immigration Studies.

But there has been no such declaration by any county officials, Lincoln County Commissioner Micaela Wuehler said Tuesday after looking into the situation.

Sheriff Jerome Kramer agreed.

“Where this comes from, I have no clue, because it is absolutely false,” Kramer told the commissioners.

According to the website, cis.org, correctional officers in 21 Nebraska counties, and several other parts of the nation, do not detain illegal immigrants in their jails until federal immigration authorities pick them up.

Kramer said that is not the case. Since the first of the year, five inmates picked up on local charges were found to be in the country illegally, and ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) was notified each time.

Kramer said the information that the CIS published is suspect. He said several Nebraska counties listed on the CIS website would not have dealt with illegal immigrants because prisoners are housed in larger jails.

Most of the Nebraska counties that are listed are in the central part of the state. The exception in Douglas County.

And, Kramer said the only way an illegal immigrant would be released would be if ICE does not pick them up, or does not make arrangements with the jail to hold them.

“We can only hold them for 24 hours after they have served their time, or longer if we have the proper paperwork (from ICE.)” Kramer said. “That’s the law. It would be false imprisonment (otherwise.)”

Wuehler has repeatedly tried to contact the Center for Immigration Studies since she learned of the listing a week ago, without a response. She said she has the center on speed dial and will keep at it.

“It is my goal to have a correction made,” she said. And when that happens, it will be reviewed again by the commissioners.  

Elizabeth Tegtmeier of North Platte, who coincidentally is the president of the state school board, came across the listing about a week ago on an X (formerly Twitter) post and contacted Wuehler about it.

Tegtmeier attended the commissioners meeting Tuesday morning to hear the discussion. She thanked Wuehler for looking into it and putting the topic on the board’s agenda.

“It’s an important issue in our country now,” she said, “As a mom with two kids, I was definitely very concerned. I wanted them (her children) also to see that when our concerns are brought to you, that you do deal with them. I think it’s good to just inform the public.”

At the end of the discussion, Hewgley said, “The clarification was made and we are certainly not a sanctuary county.”  

“We would never, ever release anyone who was going to harm someone in the community,” Kramer said, “unless we were forced to because someone did not follow up with their part. But that hasn’t happened.”  

On the CIS website, several counties in New Mexico and Minnesota are also listed, as well as the entire state of North Dakota.

The website is here — cis.org/Map-Sanctuary-Cities-Counties-and-States.

The CIS has been labeled as an American anti-immigration think tank that seeks to stir resentment of immigration by presenting facts without context or that are inaccurate. The Southern Poverty Law Center, a liberal group, has gone so far as to label CIS a hate group.

There is an informative discussion of the disagreements between the CIS and the SPLC HERE on Politifact.

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