Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Douglas County Sheriff Aaron Hansen joins us here on kfab's
Morning News. A lot to get to this morning, Sheriff,
thank you very much for taking the time. What can
you tell us about this operation between the County Sheriff's
FBI IRS was involved in this and some guys pulled
out of a taco truck.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
What happened? Yeah, well, I mean essentially, it's modern day slavery,
slavery ring right here in Nebraska, right here in Douglas County,
and I was shocked as I learned more details, But
obviously the Douglas County Sheriff's Office was happy to assist
our federal, state, and local partners to disrupt this modern
(00:40):
day slavery ring as you have seen it that's been
reported publicly. The allegation is that there was a business
owner in Douglas County that owned a pretty well known business,
pretty well known restaurant, and that his employee base was
comprised of people that had been smuggled from out of
(01:01):
the country into the United States into Douglas County, and
this had been occurring for years, for decades, and justice
was finally brought upon this individual and the indentured servant
slaves liberated. So I'm honored and proud that the Sheriff's
office could be a part of that operation with our federal, state,
(01:24):
and local partners.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
These guys were bringing up, paying people to bring them
employees from Mexico. Now recently, with the heat here from Ice,
they fired a lot of these illegal immigrant employees, basically
leaving them to fend for themselves in a land that
they really don't know very well. The people who are
running this know the land pretty well. They've been in
(01:45):
and out of this country several times. According to the affidavit,
these guys have been deported or marked for deportation going
back to the mid to late nineties, various drug convictions
and everything else, and they just keep coming back in
and here in Omaha running a couple of businesses and
now in custody, in federal custody. Now we don't know
(02:08):
where they're going to go. You noted in a letter
you sent to the Douglas County Board Sheriff Aaron Hanson,
that it used to be not that long ago, if
someone was in the country illegally and detained here locally,
that they could be detained in a local jail. That
was a contract that the County Board and the Border
(02:29):
Corrections had with ICE that was eliminated in September of
twenty twenty one when they decided they didn't want to
do that and they didn't want to take that federal
money to be able to do it. So now the
people held this raid at a food processing plant in
Omaha over the summer have been a North platte, away
from family, away from friends, away from legal counsel, and
(02:51):
you're saying this is inhumane and ridiculous. What message have
you gotten back from the County Board after sending that letter.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Well, obviously, I think they're still in the in the
contemplation process. I think you've seen publicly that there's some
commissioners that that are not get interested in re engaging
a contractual relationship with ICE. And I think I think
if you read the memo that I sent the leadership
of the County Board carefully, if you read the press
release that I sent out yesterday about the collaborative discussion
(03:24):
that we've had with the leadership at the League of
United Latino American Citizens in the Nebraska Chapter Nebraska leadership,
I think there's a lot of reasons to consider rekindling
that contract with ICE. I mean, number one, property taxes
are too high, right, and county government has very limited
revenue streams. We don't have sales tax or any of
(03:45):
those other things. And so if the federal government is
willing to give us, give the county a significant revenue
stream for utilizing an infrastructure that we are bound to
maintain a correctional facility, why wouldn't we can result in
millions of revenue. Now, what could we do with that revenue? Well,
this current budget year, the County Board cut the Dougas
(04:07):
County Sheriff's Office proposed budget by half a million dollars.
That impacted our ability to keep Douglas County safe. That
could easily be recouped with that revenue stream. So the
safety of all citizens in Douglas County. But what could
it also do? That revenue could be used to enhance corrections,
and I think even more importantly, it could be used
(04:30):
to help support the very vulnerable community. The very same
vulnerable community that is being impacted, whether it is a
family member being detained. And again, we can't control that
someone's going to be detained. They're going to be detained.
It's a matter where they're going to be detained. We
could turn back a portion of that revenue to help
(04:50):
the kids that are left behind, or maybe the elderly
grandparents that are left behind well, at the same time
making sure that Douglas County is safe. I think we
should be able to step back from the politics in
the emotion, and I'd like to see the county board
make a smart, balanced, rational decision on an ICE contract.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
There was a statement issued by Douglas County Board Chair
Roger Garcia yesterday that said we have nothing to do
with this and basically said, you don't know what you're
talking about. They said the Border Commissioners was also acts,
as the Border Corrections was not involved with nor did
it participate in the conversations referenced in Sheriff Hansen's press
release yesterday. Now I asked them to respond to the
(05:33):
letter I have from September twenty twenty one where the
Border Corrections tells ICE, We're not going to work with
you anymore on behalf of the county. I have received
no response, have.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
You no in that letter? Look, County board leadership. The
statements are accurate, as the sheriff of this county. I'm
concerned about everyone in the county. I have the ability
to be empathetic to the folks that were families were
disrupted when they were taken into ice custody as a
(06:05):
result of the identity theft investigation. There's still people regardless
of the fact that they're alleged to have committed federal crime,
and I think it would have been more humane for
those individuals to be detained in this community. Not only
do is this a world class correctional facility here, but
it's proximate to their families, it's proximate to their lawyers,
(06:27):
it's proximate to the courthouses, the courtrooms, and the Omaha
Courthouse that they have to attend, as opposed to an
eleven hour round trip and being isolated in North Platte
at the Lincoln County Sheriff's correctional facility where they don't
know anybody. They would also have access to support services
here in Omaha area in Douglas County, and so I
(06:50):
think again, we need to push through the emotion on this,
We need to push through the politics and look at
it for what it is. If we engage in a
nice contract with the federal government. Not only is it
more revenue than Douglas Kenny coffers to offset property taxes,
but it's a more humane way to potentially detain people
(07:11):
who are going to be detained. We can't control if
they're going to be detained for the next three years.
No one is going to have the ability to dictate
to this administration who's going to be detained and who's not,
So we might as well mitigate the impact on that
when we can, as these folks are navigating that due process.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
One more minute here with Douglas County Sheriff Aaron Hanson.
One of we've talked a lot over the years on
this radio station about the homeless, the growing homeless issue
in our community. One of the things that the homeless
leadership and advocates say is, well, we can't put all
these people in some of the shelters because they have pets. You,
(07:49):
in addition to everything else we've talked about, also kind
of tried to step out and do something on that
front yesterday. Explain please yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
I think you know, we hear a lot of from
people living in tent cam and says to why they
will not go to a shelter why they will not
go to treatment, whether it's mental health or substance abuse.
And I honestly, I think a lot of those excuses
are bad excuses. I think they're just that they're excuses,
and so I want to break down those barriers. And
(08:18):
one barrier that one excuse it does give me pause,
is when people say that they have a pet, a cat,
a dog. And I just came across one gentleman not
too long ago. He had a cat and he's living
under a bridge and a tent, and I said, Hey,
I live on an acreage. Let me foster your cat.
I'll habituate to my place, make it a farm cat.
You can have it back when you're healthy, once you
(08:39):
go get treatment. It's sober. No no, no, no no,
I'm going to go move in with my mom. Well,
if that was an option, he would have realistically done
that a long time ago. So I want to give
that opportunity to the street outreach folks to break down
that barrier. I will foster care temporarily, under carefully constructed circumstances,
(09:00):
someone's dog or cat out of my acreage. They can
live with my goat, my geese, my dog, my two
farm cats and give them that peace of mind while
they navigate treatment that they can be reunited with their
animal when they get out, but they'll need to hold
up on their end of the bargain and ultimately, Scott,
it's about breaking down the excuses, breaking down the barriers,
(09:22):
trying to get these very vulnerable people ninety nine percent
of which are navigating behavioral health condiction challenges, into the
treatment they need and out of these dangerous tent encampments.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
Love this, Kunty Sheriff Aaron Hanson, appreciate the time. Have
a great weekend you too,
Douglas County Sheriff Aaron Hansen joins us here on kfab's
Morning News. A lot to get to this morning, Sheriff,
thank you very much for taking the time. What can
you tell us about this operation between the County Sheriff's
FBI IRS was involved in this and some guys pulled
out of a taco truck.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
What happened? Yeah, well, I mean essentially, it's modern day slavery,
slavery ring right here in Nebraska, right here in Douglas County,
and I was shocked as I learned more details, But
obviously the Douglas County Sheriff's Office was happy to assist
our federal, state, and local partners to disrupt this modern
(00:40):
day slavery ring as you have seen it that's been
reported publicly. The allegation is that there was a business
owner in Douglas County that owned a pretty well known business,
pretty well known restaurant, and that his employee base was
comprised of people that had been smuggled from out of
(01:01):
the country into the United States into Douglas County, and
this had been occurring for years, for decades, and justice
was finally brought upon this individual and the indentured servant
slaves liberated. So I'm honored and proud that the Sheriff's
office could be a part of that operation with our federal, state,
(01:24):
and local partners.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
These guys were bringing up, paying people to bring them
employees from Mexico. Now recently, with the heat here from Ice,
they fired a lot of these illegal immigrant employees, basically
leaving them to fend for themselves in a land that
they really don't know very well. The people who are
running this know the land pretty well. They've been in
(01:45):
and out of this country several times. According to the affidavit,
these guys have been deported or marked for deportation going
back to the mid to late nineties, various drug convictions
and everything else, and they just keep coming back in
and here in Omaha running a couple of businesses and
now in custody, in federal custody. Now we don't know
(02:08):
where they're going to go. You noted in a letter
you sent to the Douglas County Board Sheriff Aaron Hanson,
that it used to be not that long ago, if
someone was in the country illegally and detained here locally,
that they could be detained in a local jail. That
was a contract that the County Board and the Border
(02:29):
Corrections had with ICE that was eliminated in September of
twenty twenty one when they decided they didn't want to
do that and they didn't want to take that federal
money to be able to do it. So now the
people held this raid at a food processing plant in
Omaha over the summer have been a North platte, away
from family, away from friends, away from legal counsel, and
(02:51):
you're saying this is inhumane and ridiculous. What message have
you gotten back from the County Board after sending that letter.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Well, obviously, I think they're still in the in the
contemplation process. I think you've seen publicly that there's some
commissioners that that are not get interested in re engaging
a contractual relationship with ICE. And I think I think
if you read the memo that I sent the leadership
of the County Board carefully, if you read the press
release that I sent out yesterday about the collaborative discussion
(03:24):
that we've had with the leadership at the League of
United Latino American Citizens in the Nebraska Chapter Nebraska leadership,
I think there's a lot of reasons to consider rekindling
that contract with ICE. I mean, number one, property taxes
are too high, right, and county government has very limited
revenue streams. We don't have sales tax or any of
(03:45):
those other things. And so if the federal government is
willing to give us, give the county a significant revenue
stream for utilizing an infrastructure that we are bound to
maintain a correctional facility, why wouldn't we can result in
millions of revenue. Now, what could we do with that revenue? Well,
this current budget year, the County Board cut the Dougas
(04:07):
County Sheriff's Office proposed budget by half a million dollars.
That impacted our ability to keep Douglas County safe. That
could easily be recouped with that revenue stream. So the
safety of all citizens in Douglas County. But what could
it also do? That revenue could be used to enhance corrections,
and I think even more importantly, it could be used
(04:30):
to help support the very vulnerable community. The very same
vulnerable community that is being impacted, whether it is a
family member being detained. And again, we can't control that
someone's going to be detained. They're going to be detained.
It's a matter where they're going to be detained. We
could turn back a portion of that revenue to help
(04:50):
the kids that are left behind, or maybe the elderly
grandparents that are left behind well, at the same time
making sure that Douglas County is safe. I think we
should be able to step back from the politics in
the emotion, and I'd like to see the county board
make a smart, balanced, rational decision on an ICE contract.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
There was a statement issued by Douglas County Board Chair
Roger Garcia yesterday that said we have nothing to do
with this and basically said, you don't know what you're
talking about. They said the Border Commissioners was also acts,
as the Border Corrections was not involved with nor did
it participate in the conversations referenced in Sheriff Hansen's press
release yesterday. Now I asked them to respond to the
(05:33):
letter I have from September twenty twenty one where the
Border Corrections tells ICE, We're not going to work with
you anymore on behalf of the county. I have received
no response, have.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
You no in that letter? Look, County board leadership. The
statements are accurate, as the sheriff of this county. I'm
concerned about everyone in the county. I have the ability
to be empathetic to the folks that were families were
disrupted when they were taken into ice custody as a
(06:05):
result of the identity theft investigation. There's still people regardless
of the fact that they're alleged to have committed federal crime,
and I think it would have been more humane for
those individuals to be detained in this community. Not only
do is this a world class correctional facility here, but
it's proximate to their families, it's proximate to their lawyers,
(06:27):
it's proximate to the courthouses, the courtrooms, and the Omaha
Courthouse that they have to attend, as opposed to an
eleven hour round trip and being isolated in North Platte
at the Lincoln County Sheriff's correctional facility where they don't
know anybody. They would also have access to support services
here in Omaha area in Douglas County, and so I
(06:50):
think again, we need to push through the emotion on this,
We need to push through the politics and look at
it for what it is. If we engage in a
nice contract with the federal government. Not only is it
more revenue than Douglas Kenny coffers to offset property taxes,
but it's a more humane way to potentially detain people
(07:11):
who are going to be detained. We can't control if
they're going to be detained for the next three years.
No one is going to have the ability to dictate
to this administration who's going to be detained and who's not,
So we might as well mitigate the impact on that
when we can, as these folks are navigating that due process.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
One more minute here with Douglas County Sheriff Aaron Hanson.
One of we've talked a lot over the years on
this radio station about the homeless, the growing homeless issue
in our community. One of the things that the homeless
leadership and advocates say is, well, we can't put all
these people in some of the shelters because they have pets. You,
(07:49):
in addition to everything else we've talked about, also kind
of tried to step out and do something on that
front yesterday. Explain please yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
I think you know, we hear a lot of from
people living in tent cam and says to why they
will not go to a shelter why they will not
go to treatment, whether it's mental health or substance abuse.
And I honestly, I think a lot of those excuses
are bad excuses. I think they're just that they're excuses,
and so I want to break down those barriers. And
(08:18):
one barrier that one excuse it does give me pause,
is when people say that they have a pet, a cat,
a dog. And I just came across one gentleman not
too long ago. He had a cat and he's living
under a bridge and a tent, and I said, Hey,
I live on an acreage. Let me foster your cat.
I'll habituate to my place, make it a farm cat.
You can have it back when you're healthy, once you
(08:39):
go get treatment. It's sober. No no, no, no no,
I'm going to go move in with my mom. Well,
if that was an option, he would have realistically done
that a long time ago. So I want to give
that opportunity to the street outreach folks to break down
that barrier. I will foster care temporarily, under carefully constructed circumstances,
(09:00):
someone's dog or cat out of my acreage. They can
live with my goat, my geese, my dog, my two
farm cats and give them that peace of mind while
they navigate treatment that they can be reunited with their
animal when they get out, but they'll need to hold
up on their end of the bargain and ultimately, Scott,
it's about breaking down the excuses, breaking down the barriers,
(09:22):
trying to get these very vulnerable people ninety nine percent
of which are navigating behavioral health condiction challenges, into the
treatment they need and out of these dangerous tent encampments.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
Love this, Kunty Sheriff Aaron Hanson, appreciate the time. Have
a great weekend you too,
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