Statement from Police Chief Sgambellone re: County Immigration Policy

Published on January 30, 2026

Statement from Police Chief Sgambellone in Response to On-going Questions from the Community re: County Immigration Policy

“The Los Alamos Police Department (LAPD) has received questions from some members of the community regarding our immigration policy.  Our policy has remained consistent.  LAPD will continue to work with all our federal partners to provide assistance as prescribed by law, or as a matter of public and/or officer safety.  

Specific to immigration, LAPD has a responsibility to properly identify and make Consular notification of any foreign citizen taken into custody in accordance with law and international treaties.  However, victims and witnesses of a crime will not be asked about citizenship and can contact the LAPD without fear of their immigration status being questioned. 

One of the main priorities of LAPD is keeping the peace.  To that end, the Department recognizes and respects citizens’ rights to peacefully protest just as we recognize and respect Immigration Customs and Enforcement’s (ICE) job to enforce the law.  What appears to be happening in Minnesota is a breakdown of trust and communication, which has resulted in violent outcomes.  I don’t claim to have all the answers, but I do believe that mature and respectful dialogue about the issues is a much better prescription than violence.  

I have not been informed that ICE agents have any plans to come to Los Alamos at this time. To be clear, if a group of citizens peacefully wants to protest ICE, we would do our part to preserve the peace. Similarly, if ICE agents were to come to our community, and during their time here they requested help in a situation where they feared for their safety from an angry mob, LAPD would absolutely respond to preserve the peace in that situation as well. 

Recently, I have been asked questions regarding how we would respond to varying scenarios regarding ICE agents and the perception of their tactics. One cannot write a policy to cover every eventuality. But our policy does guide us to respond to each call for service in an un-biased manner, evaluating the situation for potential violations of law, while doing our best to promote a peaceful outcome. Calling the local police department simply because you do not support ICE operations will likely not result in your desired outcome. Local police departments have no authority over ICE operations. Regardless of the type of call for service received at the Los Alamos Police Department and whether or not it is politically charged, our goal is to keep the peace in an un-biased, professional manner every time.

The relevant policy is attached.”

Chief D. Sgambellone

208-Foreign-Nationals.pdf(PDF, 158KB)

309-Processing-Immigration-and-Customs-Enforcement.pdf(PDF, 148KB)