'They're wanting to get the hardened criminals at this time,' SWMO officials address immigration fears amid national ICE raids
NOEL, Mo. — Law enforcement in McDonald County say national headlines have caused fear in their community.
Noel City Marshal Randy Wilson says he serves a very diverse community.
'Last I knew, we had between 35 and 40 different cultures,' said Marshal Wilson.
Among those, Pacific Islanders, Middle Easterners, and Hispanics. In the last few weeks, that population has grown fearful.
'We've had some that were pretty fearful and scared that we were going to be picked up.'
Marshal Wilson is referring to raids by ICE, and he's been working to ease those concerns in the community.
'The ones that they're going after right now are the hardened criminals, ones that are out there breaking laws that, you know, are felony laws, and we kind of explain that to them the best that we can.'
'They're wanting to get the hardened criminals at this time,' SWMO officials address immigration fears amid national ICE raids
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Sheriff Robert Evenson says he's not aware of that happening in McDonald County.
'We're not participating, we're not conducting any kind of immigration enforcement actions, no raids, no door-to-door, no checkpoints on the highway. We're responding to calls, like we always do,' said Sheriff Evenson.
Evenson says from time to time, a person will be arrested whose immigration status comes into question.
For several years, standard protocol has been to call ICE in to investigate.
'That hasn't changed. The same thing is happening now that has been happening for twenty-plus years,' said Sheriff Evenson.
I spoke to several immigrants, all of whom declined to go on camera for fear of what might happen.
Marshal Wilson says nearly all of them can rest easy because they're not who is being looked for.
'They're wanting to get the hardened criminals at this time,' said Marshal Wilson.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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