BERRIEN COUNTY, Mich. (WNDU) – Immigration policy hit close to home Wednesday night in Berrien County.
Sheriff Chuck Heit faced community members at a town hall in St. Joseph to explain exactly how his department works with immigration and customs enforcement.
Back in April 2025, Sheriff Heit signed onto ICE’s 287(g) program for the warrant service officer model to serve ICE detainers and warrants on people already arrested and booked into the Berrien County Jail.
Wednesday night, Sheriff Heit stressed what that partnership does and does not mean. He said his deputies are not out making immigration arrests or enforcing federal immigration law in the community.
In 2025, the Berrien County Sheriff’s Office held 46 inmates on ICE detainers and through March 2026, it served 15 ICE warrants.
Those numbers come after Sheriff Heit signed onto the warrant service officer model under ICE’s 287(g) program, a move that’s now sparking fear and pushback in parts of the community.
“The agreement terrifies families, young people, and children who are afraid to attend school and live in fear that their parents will not return home after their workday,” said Jessica Gomez a member of We the People.
Pastor Dan Robinson a part of the Zion St. Joseph UCC said members of the immigrant community were afraid to attend.
“70 members of the immigrant community had wanted to be here tonight but were too afraid to come,” said Pastor Robinson.
Sheriff Heit said he chose this model specifically because it’s limited. He said it does not give deputies authority to enforce immigration law, only to have specially trained staff serve ICE warrants on people who are already arrested and booked into the Berrien County Jail. Sheriff Heit also said his office has been honoring ICE holds for decades.
“This is something we’ve done for well over 25 years if there’s an administrative hold. I do think the safest place to deal with that is when someone is already in custody because if not, if they get notified that someone was in jail and gets out, that’s going to put ICE making the decisions if they come into the community. So, from our standpoint, it’s the safest place to have that dealt with,” said Sheriff Heit.
But critics said even a limited partnership could have a broader impact, warning racial profiling could lead to more arrests and more people funneled into ICE custody.
“There are a lot of people who may alert law enforcement, call the cops on someone that doesn’t look like them, but often frame them as a criminal. And we know that if that person gets the cops called on them, and if that person ends up lodged in the jail, and they have that ice hold on them, that could be something that could be very problematic for people who are trying to live a good life, and live by the law, and be good citizens,” said Rayonte Bell a 5th district commissioner for Berrien County.
Sheriff Heit said ICE holds only apply to people arrested on criminal charges, not civil infractions like traffic tickets and he said deputies do not ask about immigration status during arrests or when someone calls for help, he said his goal is to protect everyone in Berrien County.
“I appreciate the opportunity to listen tonight, but also hopefully explain, you know, not only like I said several times, not only what it is, but what it isn’t. There’s other models that are much more invasive and going out in the community that I intentionally did not do because that separation between the role of the federal government and the local, you know, county sheriff or local police is different,” said Sheriff Heit.
Sheriff Heit also accepted letters from community members Wednesday night, he promised to read through each one.
He said he’ll continue to hold these conversations and answering questions, with the goal of making sure everyone in Berrien County feels safe and can trust the sheriff’s office.
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