Federal agents are expected in Champaign-Urbana this week for criminal warrant apprehension, but Champaign County Sheriff Dustin Heuerman said rumors that ICE will be in town are false. He said he checked with federal partners over the weekend and found no scheduled Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in the area.
Heuerman said the rumor has no basis in reliable information. “It is completely a rumor that ICE will be in town and not based on reliable information. I have verified this weekend with our federal partners that there are no scheduled ICE operations occurring in our area,” he said.
He added that the federal activity expected in Central Illinois is tied to local law enforcement work, not immigration enforcement. “There are some non-ICE federal agents supposed to be in Central Illinois this week working with some local jurisdictions on criminal warrant apprehension,” Heuerman said.
The rumors had spread enough that the New American Welcome Center at the University YMCA posted a statement Friday saying it had heard them and was taking the threat seriously. Urbana Mayor DeShawn Williams said Saturday that the city had not received verified information and was actively monitoring the situation.
The distinction matters because the claims circulating in town pointed to ICE, while the verified plan involves other federal agents working with local jurisdictions. Heuerman’s confirmation over the weekend closed the gap between rumor and the actual operation: agents may be coming, but not for immigration enforcement and not as ICE.
