Immigration Officials Say No Requests For Help On File From Schmitt

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials say they have no official record of Huron police chief Doug Schmitt making a request for ICE agents to investigate two Huron area businesses. Schmitt made this statement before a House committee last week…

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Shawn Neudauer, Public Affairs Officer with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in St.Paul, Minnesota declined to go on tape, but says an ICE agent had been in contact with Schmitt, but that no formal request for an investigation had been made by Schmitt or the Huron police department. Neudauer says quite a bit of research into records was done  to verify accuracy.  Neudauer’s official statement reads quote, prior to the March 2011 briefing Schmitt gave to members of the South Dakota state legislature, we are unaware of any official inquiries requesting ICE investigative assistance related to this matter. endquote.  Neudauer says no record is on file of any such report. He added that specifically, Homeland Security Investigation personnel routinely work with, and are in regular contact with, various Huron police Department law enforcement personnel regarding many issues. When asked if investigations into Schmitt’s allegations would take place, Neudauer could neither confirm nor deny that they would happen.  Neudauers e-mail to Performance Radio is listed below:

• Zach,    Sorry this took so long to get to you but it took a bit to research our records to verify accuracy. Following is our statement, please feel free to call me if you have further questions or need clarification.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) enjoys close working relationships with a broad spectrum of law enforcement agencies, to include local, state and federal authorities. 

Specifically, HSI personnel routinely work with, and we are in regular contact with, various Huron PD law enforcement personnel regarding many issues. However, prior to the March 2011 briefing the Huron PD gave to members of the South Dakota state legislature, we are unaware of any official inquiries requesting ICE investigative assistance related to this matter.