Oklahoma County officials stress the county is NOT a sanctuary county
OKLAHOMA COUNTY (KFOR) - Oklahoma County leaders are responding to growing concerns over claims that Oklahoma County is a sanctuary county. County officials stress it is not true.
A sanctuary county is a place where local officials have decided not to work with the federal government to enforce immigration laws.
The Oklahoma County Sheriff and an Oklahoma County Commissioner are both calling out a recent report released by the Center for Immigration Studies showing Oklahoma County as a sanctuary county on a map. County officials are now working to clear up the rumors and get Oklahoma County removed from that map.
“I will tell you this, that is not the practice of this administration at the Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office,” said Tommie Johnson III, Oklahoma County Sheriff.
Oklahoma County Sheriff Tommie Johnson III is setting the record straight after getting calls from concerned residents about a map and news reports that labels Oklahoma County as a sanctuary county. Sheriff Johnson says that’s far from the truth.
“This is not a sanctuary county. We obey the law and we enforce the law. And our citizens can rest assured on that,” said Sheriff Thompson.
In 2020, Oklahoma County Commissioners voted to support the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
"We're gonna stand up for ICE here in Oklahoma County. We are not California. We are not Portland, we're not Seattle. We stand up for law enforcement here and I will not let these extremists keep us from doing so,” said former Oklahoma County Commissioner Kevin Calvey in 2020.
“It was important that it be county policy that we work with our federal law enforcement and just follow the law. It's not taking a position on anything. It's a matter of following the law,” said Brian Maughan, Oklahoma County Commissioner, District 2.
Oklahoma County officials now want to know how and why the mistake was made in the first place.
“Completely made up, as far as I can tell,” said Maughan.
This week, Oklahoma County clerks dug through records dating as far back as the 1890s. They did not find any reports of Oklahoma County ever being a sanctuary county.
“There has never been an official vote one way or the other,” said Maressa Treat, Oklahoma County Clerk.
Now Oklahoma County leaders are demanding the Center for Immigration Studies to remove the false report. They’ve also reassured law enforcement partners that they know the truth.
“I got right back with the federal delegation, and they were the ones that had a lot of concerns with this, too, and just wanted to make sure that this rumor wasn't true,” said Treat.
KFOR contacted the Center for Immigration Studies. A spokesperson with the research organization said the person who oversees the sanctuary county map was unavailable on Friday, but they have reached out to Oklahoma County officials to confirm county policies. Once that’s complete, Oklahoma County could be removed from the list of sanctuary counties.