Las Vegas Police will not assist with Trump immigration ‘roundups,’ says department head
After President Donald Trump’s return to the White House and swift, sweeping actions to crack down on illegal immigration, the head of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD), Sheriff Kevin McMahill, doubled down on a policy guiding officers to limit cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (IC) and not assist with federal immigration “roundups.”
The department emphasized its policy of not investigating immigration violations, according to a statement posted on X Tuesday. The department said its statement was in response to “questions regarding immigration enforcement.”
The policy, which was instituted during 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 enforce immigration violations.” And “officers will not stop and question, detain, arrest, or place an immigration hold on any individuals on the grounds they are an undocumented immigrant.
“It is the policy of this department to recognize the dignity of all persons, regardless of their national origin or immigration status,” the policy states. “LVMPD is committed to community-oriented policing as a strategy that focuses on developing relationships with community members regardless of the immigration status of a suspect or victim.”
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President Donald Trump and Sheriff Kevin McMahill, head of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police. (Getty Images)
According to the LVMPD policy, the department “will share criminal intelligence regarding transnational organized crime and international terrorism with any and all law enforcement agencies to include ICE.”
The policy further states that the department will also notify ICE when a foreign-born individual is arrested and charged with a violent felony, domestic violence or driving under the influence at the time of booking and release.
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However, the LVMPD policy says that the department “will not delay the release of an inmate for ICE” and will release a migrant “if ICE is not present at the time of the inmate’s release.”
In an interview with local outlet 8 News Now, McMahill said his officers would not assist federal authorities with “roundups” of illegal immigrants, saying, “That’s not my job. I have too much to do.
“I don’t intend to change that policy any time soon. What I do hope happens is that there’s a bipartisan effort to secure our border.”
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill speaks to the media at department headquarters in Las Vegas Jan. 7, 2025. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP)
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In previous statements, ICE has said law enforcement agencies refusing to honor its immigration “detainers,” or hold requests, unnecessarily place agents and communities in danger by necessitating potentially violent confrontations and arrests in public spaces.
Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar, has spoken out unequivocally against public officials who have vowed not to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.
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“When you release a public safety threat back into the community, that puts the community at great risk of crime, and it puts our officers at great risk. Now, they’ve got to arrest the bad guy on his turf, where he has access to who knows what weapons, and it puts the public at risk,” Homan told Fox News Wednesday.
“To sanctuary cities, I’ve said this many times: Let us into the jail, where it’s safer for an agent to arrest a bad guy, it’s safer for the bad guy to be arrested in jail and it’s safer for the community.
“I want to save lives. A secure border saves lives. And when President Trump locks this border down, less women and children will be sex trafficked in this country, less aliens will die making that journey,” he added.
“Sanctuary cities are going to get exactly what they don’t want — more agents in the communities, more people arrested, more collaterals arrested. So, that’s a game they want to play? Game on.”
