Graham Jaehnig/Daily Mining Gazette Houghton County Sheriff Josh Saaranen was tasked with leading two opposing groups to find alternatives to opposing resolutions regarding ICE in Houghton County.

HOUGHTON – At Tuesday’s Houghton County Board of Commissioners Work Session, Sheriff Josh Saaranen discussed reviews of two opposing resolutions regarding whether Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is operating in the county. One resolution was drafted by Keweenaw Indivisible (KI). An opposing resolution was submitted to the Board by the Houghton County Republicans.

In a video posted to social media last Saturday, KI organizer Rich Canevez addressed the topic in detail.

“A few weeks ago, we put forward a resolution to the County Board of Commissioners that pushed them to publicly declare that the services and infrastructure that we pay for with our taxes and maintain through our shared efforts and for our community and not for ICE to enforce federal immigration law locally,” Canevez said.

“That resolution was initially set to be presented and publicly discussed at the April 14, 2026 meeting. “The objective of the resolution was to communicate a sense of safety to all our members, especially our immigrant community, regardless of their documented status.”

In the video, Canevez said in response to the resolution, the Copper Country Republicans wrote an opposing resolution encouraging the Board of Commissioners to publicly state their commitment to complying with federal law, including the assurance that the county will not interfere with federal immigration enforcement.

“At the behest of a bipartisan pair of the commissioners,” he said, “Sheriff Josh Saaranen convened a meeting between us, key KI leaders and valuable members to the effort and a group of Copper Country Republicans.”

Saaranen and Commissioner Roy Britz were present at the meetings that followed.

Canevez said at the meetings, Saaranen clearly stated his objectives to mediate a shared solution so neither resolution would be presented to the Board. Canevez said both groups were informed if both resolutions went to public discussion at the Board meeting and ultimately vote, it is likely that both resolutions would be rejected.

“Additionally,,” Canevez said, “the discussion and vote could potentially ignite a media frenzy.”

At the work session, Saaranen said the resolutions came about largely because of community worries as well as national concerns regarding ICE.

“I gave a brief history to all the groups along the way of what our relationship as a sheriff’s office in the county is involving our federal partnerships, including ICE,” Saaranen said. “We don’t have a working relationship with ICE, but ICE has been involved in our county since its inception, whether that being through monitoring our jail population and so on and so forth.”

Saaranen said the county receives funding from several federal government sources, including the Border Patrol.

“This is not ICE, but we do have a specific grant there,” he said. “And the mission of that is the safety of our local infrastructure and our federal waterway here.”

Saaranen said there are members of the community who have a legitimate concern whether ICE is going to be here operating within our community.

“My opinion is that they are not,” he said.

In his video, Canevez said Sheriff Saaranen pushed both parties to find a shared solution to the issue.

“And perhaps to my surprise,” he said, “we have may have found common ground. We both want a safe community. We both want a community where people feel like they can be part of our culture, our healthcare, our education. And we both want our community members to feel like they have a stake in making our community safe for all.”

Saaranen agreed. “There are things that we’re going to do as a Sheriff’s Office, and not going to do as a county and law enforcement,” Saaranen told the Board, “but really, with this whole involvement with all the groups and all the individuals together, I think it seemed like we had a lot more in common than we thought, and it was a really fruitful conversation, I believe.”

Saaranen said he believes it is the desire of all involved to bring the issue to the next Board meeting for public discussion. He will not request a resolution on his own, he said, as he does not one is necessary, but requested an addition to the agenda as a response to concerns over ICE.

“I essentially asked the groups to come together,” said Saaranen. “I’m going to write a statement to the Board, which I would encourage to have as a line item in the next Board meeting, and I believe the groups are going to be writing some response and letter as well.”

Canevez said his organization’s priority continues to be concerns for what he termed the county’s most vulnerable people.

“We’re working on the formal letter of public support in response to Sheriff Sarnon’s letter that lives up to our objective to communicate safety and inclusion to all of our community, including our immigrant population, regardless of status.”