Utah

Immigration agents bolster action at Utah courthouses, prompting criticism from some

Published

4 weeks ago

March 2, 2026

Immigration agents bolster action at Utah courthouses, prompting criticism from some

SALT LAKE CITY — The presence of federal immigration agents tracking immigrants has increased in Salt Lake County-area courtrooms since mid-February as have complaints about how they’re carrying out their duties.

United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents may have carried out operations at the Matheson Courthouse in Salt Lake City, according to Lacey Singleton, a public defender who’s regularly at the facility.

“Now it is like they are there all the time … They just basically hang out, and they’re either sitting in the courtroom, or they’re lurking in the hallways,” she said. They wear normal street garb, she said, but for regulars in the courtroom, “they stand out.”

Immigration enforcement action at courthouses around the country has become “a cornerstone” in the efforts of the administration of President Donald Trump to detain and deport immigrants in the country illegally, according to the American Immigration Council, an immigrant advocacy group. Since an arrest of one of Lacey’s clients around Feb. 12 or 13, she and others say, the practice has become more and more common in Utah.

ICE didn’t respond to a KSL query seeking comment, but the practice aligns with the Trump administration’s push to crack down on illegal immigration. Agency guidance notes that the people ICE seeks may appear in courthouses to address unrelated criminal and civil matters, and that such facilities are typically secure.

“Accordingly, when ICE engages in civil immigration enforcement actions in or near courthouses, it can reduce safety risks to the public, targeted alien(s) and ICE officers and agents,” reads a May 27 memo on the matter.

Critics, though, say immigration agents’ efforts can be disruptive and could spur immigrants, otherwise trying to resolve their legal issues, to steer clear of court, jeopardizing their cases. As word spreads of the activity, it could also spur fearful immigrant witnesses and crime victims to steer clear of the legal system, Lacey worries.

Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera brought the issue up at a Salt Lake County Council meeting on Tuesday, saying her office has received “multiple complaints” about ICE agents’ activity in Salt Lake County courthouses, where sheriff’s officials, serving as court bailiffs, provide security.

U.S. agents have ratcheted up immigration enforcement action at Utah courthouses, prompting criticism from some. The photo shows attorney Lacey Singleton, center, questioning a suspected agent recently at Matheson Courthouse in Salt Lake City. (Photo: Salt Lake City Bail Fund)

Part of the problem, she said, is that the agents typically wear plain clothes and don’t identify themselves, not even to bailiffs. Another issue relates to the actual process of taking an immigrant into custody, which Rivera says should occur outside of public view with the suspects’ lawyers present.

In one instance, she said, a bailiff heard a scuffle and thought someone was getting assaulted, only to find out it was ICE agents detaining somebody.

A bailiff and an ICE agent subsequently “got into a verbal altercation,” Rivera said. “We are addressing that issue, but I want you to understand, these deputies are put in a really tough situation, and in this situation, I understand how he could get to that point where he had no idea who they were, and he was trying to make sure that somebody wasn’t being assaulted at the time.”

Video from last week, posted to social media by the Salt Lake City Bail Fund, shows Lacey walking past a suspected immigration agent at the Matheson Courthouse, asking for identification but getting no reply. The Salt Lake City Bail Fund, critical of ICE activity, sends observers to the Matheson Courthouse to monitor the agency’s activity.

“That’s a problem because it’s like, who are you?” Lacey said. “For all I know, you’re some random dude who is just, like, off the street and participating in kidnapping people.”

Video supplied to KSL shows an incident outside Riverton Justice Court on Wednesday — four apparent immigration agents in plain clothes wrestling on the ground with an apparent suspect they were trying to take into custody.

“Don’t resist,” someone off-camera says in Spanish while filming the incident. “Son, don’t resist. Calm down. They’re going to hurt you more.”

The woman asks for his name and contact info after the agents cuff him and take him to a nearby car, while another man on the scene shouts at the officials and berates them. “You guys are disgusting,” the man says.

Anna Reganis, a public defender with the Salt Lake Legal Defender Association, like Lacey, said immigration agents detained a man at Salt Lake City Justice Court on Wednesday. She didn’t witness the actual detention, but heard the aftermath.

“All of a sudden, in my courtroom, we could hear from the lobby blood-curdling screams,” Reganis said. She went to the main lobby, finding a woman holding her infant baby “just inconsolably screaming and crying.” Turns out the woman had gone to the courthouse with her husband, and he had just been detained by immigration agents.

Lacey maintains that the people the ICE agents seem to be pursuing aren’t the most hardened of criminals, which the Trump administration said would be the focus when the crackdown started. Reganis echoed that, noting that those with business in the Salt Lake City Justice Court face relatively minor offenses.

“Myself and my co-workers all had a bit of a wake-up call because we kept telling ourselves that this wasn’t going to happen at the justice court because all of our cases are class B and C misdemeanors and infractions,” she said.

The Salt Lake City Bail Fund launched training sessions late last year for volunteers to serve as courthouse observers, particularly at the Matheson Courthouse. Liz Maryon, who helps oversee the effort, foresees another round of training to get more help. “We’re currently working on expanding our capacity so that we can be there every day,” she said.

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

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Utah

Utah Falls in Emotional, Physical Game Against Capitals | Utah Mammoth

Published

9 hours ago

March 27, 2026

Press Room

Utah Falls in Emotional, Physical Game Against Capitals | Utah Mammoth

Utah’s power play went 2-for-4, and it was the first time the Mammoth have scored two power play goals in a game since the last time they played the Capitals (Mar. 3, at Washington). Dylan Guenther and Logan Cooley each capitalized on the man-advantage in the first period. Cooley was added to the top unit with Barrett Hayton out of the lineup (week-to-week, upper-body injury), and he shared what was working for the top unit.

“Just trying to establish a shot,” Cooley explained. “Trying to build off that and then things start to open up. We have a lot of great players on that unit that can make a lot of plays, and I think when we establish a shot first (mentality) that’s when we’re going to get our opportunities, and find seams and different rebounds like that.”

“They were rolling,” Tourigny said of the power play. “The way they were attacking, the way they were direct, they were really aggressive. They were intentional, their aggressiveness, that paid off.”

In addition to his power play goal, Guenther also scored three minutes and 55 seconds later. The forward has six multi-goal efforts this season and he set a new career-high in points (61). This is his second consecutive season with 60 or more points. Guenther has been a consistent scorer for the Mammoth as he has nine goals in the month of March and has scored eight of those in the last 11 games. He trails on Boston’s Pavel Zacha (9) for the league lead in that span.

MacKenzie Weegar scored his first goal as a member of the Mammoth in the third period. He’s contributed a point in two-straight games and has grown his role with Utah. In addition to playing alongside alternate captain Mikhail Sergachev on the top d-pairing, Weegar contributes to both sides of special teams.

It’s a close playoff race in the Western Conference and Utah is still in the first wildcard spot. However, the Mammoth will need to raise their game, keep a high level of intensity, and manage their emotions in the final nine games of the regular season. Utah’s next game is a tough test against the Los Angeles Kings on the road.

“Everyone’s gotta look in the mirror, we all got better and we all know that,” Keller said. “Still super confident with our group. This is the most exciting part of the year and the most exciting hockey. We’re all positive, and we’ll learn from it and go to L.A..”

“Yeah, I think we started out good,” Cooley reflected. “Special teams were good. I thought the first period, we were moving it well. I think we kind of just started to let it slip, give up some odd-man rushes, and they capitalized. Every game is so important right now, and it stings. It’s two points that we probably should have had, especially early on with the way we were playing. We got to make sure that we are ready for a heck of a battle with L.A.”

Additional Notes from Tonight (per Mammoth PR)

Sergachev registered three assists in the first period marking the first three-assist frame of his NHL career. This also marked his second career three-point period, both of which have come against Washington, as well as his fourth three-point game this season.

Alexander Kerfoot posted an assist on Weegar’s third-period goal, marking his 300^th career NHL point. He is the 16^th player from his draft class to reach that milestone. He joins Sergachev as the second skater to accomplish the feat with Utah.

Keller posted three primary assists tonight for his eighth three-point game, third three-assist game, 23^rd multi-point game, and 13^th multi-assist game in 2025-26, all of which are team highs. The Captain has seven points over his last six games (3G, 4A).

Utah’s captain has tallied at least 70 points for the fourth consecutive season and he became the 12^th NHL player to accomplish this feat over that stretch. According to NHL PR, Keller is the fifth player in NHL history to eclipse the 70-point mark in each of a franchise’s first two seasons.

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Utah

Niskanen Center, Arnold Ventures Applaud Utah Clearance Rate Legislation – Niskanen Center

Published

21 hours ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

Niskanen Center, Arnold Ventures Applaud Utah Clearance Rate Legislation – Niskanen Center

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 26, 2026

Media Contacts:
Louisa Tavlas
ltavlas@niskanencenter.org

Arnold Ventures
media@arnoldventures.org

Olin: Legislators, Cox, “providing law enforcement with additional resources to improve investigative outcomes” and keep Utah safe.

Washington, DC (March 26, 2026) — The Niskanen Center and Arnold Ventures applaud the Utah State Legislature and Governor Spencer Cox for passing new, bipartisan legislation designed to solve more crimes and provide support for crime victims. The bill, H.B. 137, passed both the Utah House of Representatives and the Utah Senate by wide, bipartisan margins and was signed into law by the Governor today.

“Making Utah as safe as possible requires ensuring law enforcement has every available resource to identify and arrest every criminal who preys upon innocent citizens,” said Jason Olin, senior government affairs manager for criminal justice at the Niskanen Center. “HB 137 establishes a Violent Crime Clearance Rate Fund that will provide law enforcement with additional resources to improve investigative outcomes. We thank Rep. Clancy and Sen. McKell for their leadership on this critical issue and Gov. Cox for signing this important piece of legislation.”

“Solving more violent crimes quickly can bring peace to victims and reduce the number of future victims,” said Kevin Ring, vice president of criminal justice advocacy at Arnold Ventures. “Would-be offenders need to know that they will be held accountable, and this law will make it more likely they will. We thank legislative leaders, including Rep. Clancy and Sen. McKell, and Gov. Cox for making sure Utah taxpayers and communities get the biggest public safety bang for their buck.”

H.B. 137, sponsored by Rep. Tyler Clancy (R-60) and Sen. Mike McKell (R-25), creates the Violent Crime Clearance Rate Fund to assist Utah law enforcement agencies in solving violent crimes. The fund will support hiring additional law enforcement officers and providing them with the tools they need to solve crimes. H.B. 137 includes provisions to ensure that resources from the fund reach departments of all sizes across both urban and rural jurisdictions. It will also help researchers conduct rigorous evaluations of the policies and practices that are most effective in solving crimes.

Utah is one of the safest states in the nation. But since 2019, the state’s violent crime clearance rate has hovered around 53%. That means nearly half of all violent crimes reported in Utah result in no arrest and no accountability. Even Utah’s 2024 homicide clearance rate of 74% — well above the national average — leaves more than 1 in 4 murders unsolved. Behind each of those unsolved cases is a victim whose family has been denied justice.

Olin, Ring, and other criminal justice experts are available for interview or comment.

More information on the Niskanen Center’s criminal justice policy work can be found here.

More information on AV’s criminal justice policy work can be found here.

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The Niskanen Center advances an evidence-based agenda to reduce the social costs of crime and punishment. Our priority is to deter crime and reduce violence by building effective systems that deliver proportional punishment swiftly and predictably, and by ensuring law enforcement has the capacity to keep our neighborhoods safe.

Arnold Ventures is a philanthropy that supports research to understand the root causes of America’s most persistent and pressing problems, as well as evidence-based solutions to address them. By focusing on systemic change and bipartisan policy reforms, AV works to improve the lives of American families, strengthen communities, and promote economic opportunity.

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Utah

Utah Jazz Reacts: Who is the most important core player?

Published

1 day ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

Utah Jazz Reacts: Who is the most important core player?

The Utah Jazz are clearly doing everything they can to keep their pick in the upcoming NBA draft. Something tells me that next season, we won’t see as many players on the injury report as this season. That means that the core of this Jazz team will play, and it’s clear they’re going to play well. The question is, of the current Jazz roster, who is going to be the most important player next season? Now, Utah may win the lottery and that could change this entire question. If Utah drafts someone like Darryn Peterson or AJ Dybantsa, that changes everything. That said, let’s just ignore the lottery and draft for the sake of this question. If we’re looking at the odds, it’s statistically a little more likely Utah doesn’t draft in the top four of the draft anyway.

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NBA. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Jazz fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

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