BILLINGS — Hardin Police Chief Paul George has a tried-and-true philosophy when it comes to tackling crime in his city.

He calls it community policing.

For the past year, he has tasked his officers with reducing crime in various ways—running patrol cars with blue lights on, staying vigilant, and maintaining a visible presence.

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The approach has been effective, reducing crime in his city by 30 percent.

“There’s a lot of people who put on a façade that they’re doing right during the day, but at nighttime they’re out distributing drugs,” said George.

But when it comes to immigration enforcement—a political hot-button issue on the minds of many families, the role of local police in Montana is more limited.

In early March, 17 undocumented workers were detained in Flathead County after a tip led authorities to a Bigfork construction site. All were taken into custody and deemed ineligible to remain in the United States.

At the time, Flathead County Sheriff Brian Heino stated that his department was not involved in the raid and emphasized that ICE operates independently with civil warrants.

The role of local law enforcement

After spending much of his career working in a state near the southern border, George is no stranger to interacting with ICE agents or dealing with hardened criminals in the country illegally.

He acknowledges the stress recent federal immigration policies place on families but also sees the necessity of enforcement.

He also says local officers do not actively seek out undocumented immigrants or Native Americans living in his jurisdiction. The same is true for many agencies in Montana because of state law.

“My officers aren’t going to just harass people. We aren’t going out seeing people on construction sites thinking they are possibly undocumented and stopping people on traffic stops just for the purpose of determining their immigration status,” said George.

In Hardin, George witnesses the drug trade firsthand and believes criminals seek out Montana as a place to lay low. He calls the state’s rural areas a haven.

With limited resources, his agency and others rely on federal agents to do their jobs.

“Immigration enforcement is 100 percent needed,” he said. “Absolutely.”

ICE’s presence in Montana remains largely under the radar.

George admits he doesn’t know exactly where agents are working or where detainees are taken but believes immigrants are being processed at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Billings.

“I think there’s one in Helena as well. So, I think there’s three or four in the state of Montana. They’re definitely here. How many officers are here doing it? Not sure, but they’re here,” he said.

ICE enforcement in Montana

In recent months, several immigration enforcement actions have taken place across the state.

In addition to the Bigfork incident, ICE HSI agents arrested six known members of a Venezuelan criminal organization in Gallatin County on Feb. 12.

Belgrade Police Chief Dustin Lensing confirmed that his officers assisted in the operation. Gallatin County officials stated they did not know where the suspects were being held, only that they were not in the Gallatin County Detention Center.

These incidents point to whether local law enforcement agencies may also be called upon to assist federal authorities.

That partnership is called the 287(g) program, said Yellowstone County Sheriff Mike Linder.

The program authorizes local and state law enforcement officers to act on immigration warrants and make arrests. But without this designation, local agencies are not authorized by law to arrest individuals solely based on their immigration status.

Linder stated that his agency is not part of the 287(g) program due to staffing limitations and other considerations. He also pointed out that Yellowstone County’s overcrowded jail remains a pressing issue.

“We’ve got a 434-person jail, and we are over 600 in that jail. We are concerned about being able to put our own violators in jail, so it’s a balancing act,” Linder said. “If they’re violent, we will work with our federal partners every way we can to get people off the streets.”

It remains difficult to determine how many undocumented immigrants live in Montana. When MTN News reached out to federal immigration officials for data, no substantial information was provided.

However, some organizations argue that Montana’s immigrant community—though small—is vital to the state’s economy.

As of 2023, the American Immigration Council reported that over 60 percent of Montana’s immigrant population are naturalized citizens contributing to the workforce and local economy, with about 2.2 percent of the population being immigrants.

For now, both George and Linder say state and local authorities must navigate a complex balance—ensuring public safety while recognizing their limited role in federal immigration enforcement efforts.