A rumor that agents from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) have been active in Sitka recently is based partly on the heightened presence of law enforcement officers in town for other training, and partly on actual ICE activity in Sitka last month.
KCAW has learned that ICE did arrest and detain at least one person in Sitka last month. In a March 19 post on social media, Chief Patrol Officer Rosario Pete Vasquez wrote that Bellingham agents assigned to Alaska “assisted ICE in arresting Cipriano Guerrero in Sitka.” The post said that Guerrero, a Mexican citizen, was being held for removal to Mexico. Guerrero was arrested in Sitka in 2023 on felony DUI charges. According to ICE’s public database, he is currently being held at a detention center in Tacoma.
It’s still unclear if ICE has had any presence in Sitka since that March arrest, although ICE posted information about an arrest made in Kodiak earlier this week.
KCAW reached out to ICE for comment. David Yost is a public affairs officer for their Seattle field office. Yost would neither confirm nor deny whether immigration enforcement officers were active in Sitka since their March arrest. Sitka Police Department spokesperson Serena Wild told KCAW that ICE notified local police of their presence in March, but the department had received no notification this month.
Sitka had a heightened law enforcement presence on April 16 and 17 due to a training session conducted by the Western States Information Network, in partnership with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. A representative from the network confirmed that around 40 law enforcement officers from across the state attended the training to learn how to investigate overdoses so dealers can be prosecuted.
It’s unclear if the heightened law enforcement presence contributed to concerns about local ICE activity. Sitka School District staff on April 17 were notified by email about how to handle interactions with agents, but the email was not prompted by any verified ICE activity in Sitka at the time. Sitka School District superintendent Deidre Jenson said that the email was a reminder about protocols for interactions with ICE, whose agents have entered schools in the lower 48. She told KCAW that, “it’s really just us being prepared.” She said that no one would ever be allowed to remove a child from school without proper legal authority and documentation.
