By Brenda Carrasco | Posted: Mon 6:26 PM, Feb 06, 2017 | Updated: Mon 7:06 PM, Feb 06, 2017

GARDEN CITY, Kan (KWCH) It's a label Finney county Sheriff Bascue has spent the last few weeks trying to get rid of, ever since the Center for Immigration Studies listed them as a sanctuary county.

"They said they'd take the matter under advisement along with other communities who have made similar requests and we're just waiting to hear back from them to see if we've been removed from their list," Bascue says.

Bascue says like other counties in the state, there was a time where detention requests for undocumented people on behalf of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were too big of a liability for his office to follow, but he says that's all changed because ICE is now more specific when it asks to hold someone.

"I'm not worried about the liability aspects of it anymore because the liability was just attached to the old detainer, the 48 hour request they were doing," Bascue says. "The paperwork we're now receiving from ICE to detain folks I'm very comfortable with the language of that and our ability to hold individuals for ICE."

Bascue says he's also been in contact with state lawmakers and ICE to make sure they understand the county’s stance on immigration enforcement. He now hopes the federal government sees this too when it comes to choosing which places are at risk of losing federal money.

"It's a matter of who is the federal government going to use as their official label maker for cities and counties," he says. "All I can tell you is that ICE, who enforces immigration laws, does not consider Finney County to be a sanctuary county so with that being said, I feel very comfortable with the status of Finney County as far as the federal government is involved."

http://www.kwch.com/content/news/Fin...412959503.html