Franklin sheriff says his deputies don't block or help feds

Franklin County Sheriff Jim Raymond issued a statement on Facebook this week refuting claims that his deputies helped federal officers with a recent immigration raid.

In the statement, Raymond said that citizens are leaping to conclusions that local deputies aided U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and caused children to be separated from parents.

Raymond said an ICE supervisor notified him June 21 that agents would be in Basin City on June 27 to arrest individuals who had illegally re-entered the country.

On the date of the raids, Raymond said he alerted Undersheriff Dan McCary and asked him to have on-duty personnel in the area to "preserve the peace and keep people safe".

That was the limit of deputies' involvement, he said.

"Our deputies did not enforce federal law, nor did they obstruct federal law enforcement. My deputies were not loading people onto buses, driving buses or arresting individuals for federal violations. Nor were they separating individuals from their family members," he said.

He noted that federal agencies regularly operate in Franklin County.

The sheriff's office also hasn't the resources or authority to do more than preserve the peace, he said.

"However, also understand that we do not, nor will we ever, inhibit our federal law enforcement agencies in their own constitutional authority by 'informing' those who have broken the law, that an operation will be taking place," he said.

The Herald confirmed two arrests from the raids.