Following President Donald Trump’s return to the White House and swift and sweeping measures to crack down on illegal immigration, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) Chief Sheriff Kevin McMahill has stepped up efforts to guide officers to limit cooperation with immigration. and Customs Enforcement (CI) and not assisting in federal immigration “raids.”
The department emphasized its policy of not investigating immigration violations, according to a statement released Tuesday. The department said its statement was in response to “questions regarding immigration enforcement.” ‘immigration’.
The policy, which was instituted under the first Trump administration in 2019 and then amended in 2023, states that “although Nevada peace officers have the authority to assist in enforcing federal laws, LVMPD officers will not not enforce immigration violations.” And “officers will not stop to question, detain, arrest, or place a person in immigration detention on the basis that he or she is an undocumented immigrant.”
“It is the policy of this Department to recognize the dignity of all people, regardless of their national origin or immigration status,” the policy states. “LVMPD is committed to community-oriented policing as a strategy focused on developing relationships with community members, regardless of a suspect’s immigration status or of a victim.”
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President Donald Trump and Sheriff Kevin McMahill, chief of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. (Getty Images)
According to LVMPD policy, the department “will share criminal intelligence regarding transnational organized crime and international terrorism with all law enforcement agencies, including ICE.”
The policy further states that the department will also notify ICE when a foreign-born person is arrested and charged with a violent crime, domestic violence, or driving under the influence at the time of booking and release.
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However, LVMPD policy states that the department “will not delay the release of a detainer to ICE” and will release a migrant “if ICE is not present at the time of the detainee’s release.”
In an interview with local news outlet 8 News Now, McMahill said his agents would not help federal authorities conduct “roundups” of illegal immigrants, saying, “That’s not my job.” I have too much to do.
“I have no plans to change this policy anytime soon. What I hope is that there is a bipartisan effort to secure our border.”
Sheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department speaks to the media at the department’s headquarters in Las Vegas on January 7, 2025. (KM Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP)
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In previous statements, ICE has said that law enforcement refusing to honor its “detainers” or withhold their requests, unnecessarily put officers and communities at risk by requiring potentially violent confrontations and arrests in public spaces.
Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar, has spoken out unequivocally against officials who have vowed not to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.
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“When you release a public safety threat into the community, it puts the community at great risk of crime, and it puts our officers at great risk. Now they have to stop the bad guy on his turf, where he has access with who knows what weapons, and it puts the public in danger,” Homan told Fox News on Wednesday.
“To sanctuary cities, I’ve said it many times: Let’s get into jail, where it’s safer for an officer to arrest a bad guy, it’s safer for the bad guy to be arrested in jail and it’s safer safe for the community.
“I want to save lives. A secure border saves lives. And when President Trump locks down that border, fewer women and children will be victims of sex trafficking in this country, fewer foreigners will die making this journey,” he added.
“Sanctuary cities are going to get exactly what they don’t want: more officers in communities, more people arrested, more collateral arrested. So, this is a game they want to play? Keep going.”
