New York Times reveals ICE threatened Chicago, Minneapolis sheriffs with prosecution over jail access

On August 5, 2026, The New York Times reported that federal immigration officials had threatened Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt and Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart with personal criminal prosecution over their departments' limits on ICE access to jail inmates — letters hand-delivered to both sheriffs in early July that the Times described as a new tactic in the administration's push for local cooperation with immigration enforcement. The letters asserted that declining to hand over inmates sought by ICE could expose the sheriffs personally to federal witness-tampering charges.

Both sheriffs' offices have long-standing policies of honoring ICE requests to take custody of jail inmates only when accompanied by a judicial warrant, consistent with the general rule that local governments are not required to comply with civil immigration detainers absent one. Cook County's jail, which Dart oversees, is the largest in the Midwest. Legal experts cited by the Times said the threatened witness-tampering charges would likely be difficult to prosecute.

Sheriff Witt responded publicly, stating her office "will continue to follow the law, the Constitution, and longstanding department policy" and that "threats of prosecution will not cause me to abandon our legal responsibilities or disregard constitutional protections." She added that some of the subpoenas referenced in the letters were served on her after the individuals in question had already been released from custody. Cook County Sheriff Dart received a similarly worded threat, according to the Times, though a same-day statement from his office was not reported.

The tactic marks an escalation from suing local governments over sanctuary-style policies — as the Justice Department did against Washtenaw County, Michigan in April 2026 — to threatening elected sheriffs with personal criminal exposure for the same category of policy choice.