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Mims Tells Trump She Wants To Cooperate With ICE

Fresno County Sheriff's Office
Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims speaking at the White House Wednesday

Local law enforcement and elected officials met with President Donald Trump today in Washington D.C. They discussed California’s sanctuary state policies and how they’ve impacted communities. As Valley Public Radio’s Monica Velez reports, one county sheriff thought the meeting was productive.

Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims said she wants to see Fresno County say “we don’t agree with SB-54,” which restricts when state law enforcement can interact with U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities. She said they discussed strategies to have full disclosures with ICE.

“Because it’s now known as a sanctuary state, so my fear is that we’re going to attract people here intent on committing crimes," said Mims. 

President Trump followed Mims remarks by saying a controversial statement regarding some undocumented immigrants. He said, “These aren’t people. These are animals.” Mims told Valley Public Radio Trump’s remarks were taken out of context and he was not talking about all immigrants.

“No, when you take a look at the context of what he said, he was describing some criminals that commit some very serious crimes," said Mims.

Mims has been outspoken about supporting the Trump administration's lawsuit to strike down California’s sanctuary state policies. Mims said she supports the president in keeping communities safe. She wants to support hard working immigrants who don’t commit crimes.

“I believe most of the immigrants we have here do contribute in a positive manner to Fresno County specifically. So we need to work on immigration reform all out," said Mims.

Monica Velez was a reporter at Valley Public Radio. She started out as a print reporter covering health issues in Merced County at the Merced Sun-Star.