Douglas County Sheriff Daniel Coverley on Wednesday stood by his decision to participate in Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s controversial 287(g) program, which uses local agencies to carry out immigration enforcement.

“This is just one tool I get to use to get those people who are committing crimes in my community and who I do not want in my community,” he told lawmakers on the Senate Committee on Government Affairs, which requested a presentation about his department’s involvement with ICE. “If they’re not supposed to be there to begin with, then this is a way to remove them.”

Coverely added that “most” of the immigration holds his agency has are on people committing serious crimes.

He told lawmakers that, while immigration is primarily the responsibility of the federal government, he believes local law enforcement agencies “have a role to play.”

Douglas County Sheriff’s Office opted into what’s known as a “warrant service officer” agreement, one of three types of agreements that fall under 287(g). The agreement allows local law enforcement officers to help with investigations of migrants already arrested and booked into their local jails, and it allows them to execute civil immigration warrants within their jails.

Coverely emphasized that location restriction, noting that officers are not going out into the community and profiling people based on their ethnicity, nor are they asking victims of crime or witnesses their immigration status.

“The only time this comes into play is when you’ve been arrested and charged with a crime and are booked into our jail,” he said.

Still, the agreement represents the agency being willing to take a more participatory role than what is current practice.

Douglas County Sheriff’s Office already informs ICE whenever someone foreign born is booked in their jail, according to Coverley.

“It is up to them whether or not they put a hold on them or what they want done,” he added.

The new agreement standardizes the process, the office has said.

Douglas County, whose county seat of Minden is about 15 miles south of Carson City, has a population of nearly 50,000, of whom about 80% are white and 13% Hispanic.

Coverley told lawmakers Douglas County Sheriff’s Office had 20 people who ICE requested holds or “detainers” on last year. Of those people, nine were picked up by ICE and five had their detainers removed by ICE, indicating the federal authorities did not want to pick them up. Four people were transferred to prison for local charges and two were transferred to other jurisdictions. The ICE detainers would go with the prisoner to those other facilities.

In 2023, the agency had 14 ICE detainers. Of those, six were picked up by ICE, five were transferred to prison as a result of their local charges, and three had their detainers removed by ICE.

Coverley told lawmakers the new 287(g) program isn’t in effect yet “because we haven’t had the training.”

That training, which will be completed online, is expected to take place within “the next month or so” and will involve five of his department’s officers working within the Douglas County Jail.

The training will tell officers “how (they) are to determine their immigration status and what to do from that point,” said Coverley.

“There’s really no way to screw this up,” he told lawmakers. “We book somebody in. We call ICE and say ‘Hey, we think this guy or person is possibly here illegally. Do you want to do anything?’ They say ‘no, we do not’ or they say ‘yes, we do.’ That’s all it is. We’re not violating anybody’s rights or anything. We’re just asking questions based on what we think may be a possibility.”

Douglas County Sheriff’s Office is one of two law enforcement agencies in Nevada listed as participating in ICE’s 287(g) warrant service officer program. The other is Mineral County Sheriff’s Office, which signed an agreement in mid-February, according to an ICE spreadsheet listing all participating agencies.

Mineral County Sheriff’s Office is also listed as having a pending application for participation in what’s known as the task force program, which involves local law enforcement conducting immigration investigations and enforcement in the community.

ICE lets local officials stop immigrants on the streets as task force program is back

Task force agreements with ICE were discontinued in 2012 during the Obama administration after a 2011 Department of Justice investigation found widespread racial profiling and other discrimination against Latinos in an Arizona task force. The Trump administration, as part of its aggressive mass deportation plans, has reestablished the program. More than 140 local law enforcement agencies across the country are now listed by ICE as participating.

In February, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office was listed by ICE as a participant of the 287(g) task force program, but days after media coverage about the agreement issued a statement saying it had not signed onto that program.

Coverley acknowledged the issue Wednesday, telling lawmakers “there was some confusion.”

“Initially an agreement was signed with ICE for the task force officer” program, he acknowledged. “That has since been rescinded and corrected. There was some confusion on my part and on the information we got from ICE.”

He did not elaborate further.

The task force component of ICE’s 287(g) program is the most controversial, but migrant rights advocates warn that any type of participatory agreement between local law enforcement and the federal agency will have a chilling effect. Studies have suggested immigrant populations are significantly less likely to report crimes if they know law enforcement works with ICE.

When asked on Wednesday if the relationship between the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and ICE may change over time, Coverley responded that is “always a possibility.”

“Everything is driven by who’s in the White House,” he said. “The immigration activity and involvement with local law enforcement has changed since the last president to the president we have now and that could change again in another four years.”

Stateline’s Tim Henderson contributed to this article.

Nevada Current is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nevada Current maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Hugh Jackson for questions: info@nevadacurrent.com.

The state budgeting process began with a $335 million oopsie, and while it may have been resolved, a potentially much larger fiscal crisis looms: the Trump administration.

State lawmakers in the early days of the 2025 Legislative Session are warning that actions being taken by President Donald Trump through a deluge of executive orders, as well as legislation being considered by the Republican-controlled Congress, may have a disastrous effect on Nevada.

But the more immediate issue of a $335 million structural deficit in Gov. Joe Lombardo’s recommended budget has been addressed, according to the governor’s staff. Lombardo Chief of Staff Ryan Cherry on Wednesday provided an overview of four dozen budget amendments to legislators on the Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means.

Democrats took issue with some of the mechanisms the governor’s office used to balance the budget–specifically, turning some funding that had been proposed as ongoing expenses and into one-time funding. Cherry defended the handling, pointing out that the Democrats have embraced one-shot funding as recently as the last regular legislative session.

“We have 117 days to have this discussion,” said Cherry, referring to the remainder of the legislative session.

The Trump effect

When setting the state’s revenue projections in December, Nevada’s Economic Forum acknowledged that some of Trump’s more grandiose campaign promises had the potential to significantly change the economic outlook.

Those concerns have not assuaged since his inauguration.

“Let’s take a step back,” said state Sen. Dina Neal, who chairs the Senate Revenue and Economic Development Committee. “We’re built on individuals coming to Nevada (and) spending their money. (If) they don’t spend, we don’t get the gaming money, we don’t get the sales tax money.”

Neal theorized that people may buckle down on spending “because they’re not understanding what is going to happen in this environment” and referenced Trump’s ongoing attempts to freeze spending on all federal loans and grants, mass firings and attempts to downsize federal employees, threats of broad tariffs against numerous countries, and promises of mass deportation.

“What we are seeing is fear,” Neal said, “and ultimately fear makes you say, ‘I need to keep the money that I have in the bank because I don’t know if i’m on the chopping block because my money is coming from a federal agent that no longer exists because they went through 10 to 15 agencies and arbitrarily chopped people’s salary.’”

Economic uncertainty will be acutely felt by Nevada, Neal argued.

“We are a boom and bust state,” she continued. “People who come here help us pay for our services. That’s kind of the model. Not even kind of. It’s 50% of it.”

Senate Minority Leader Robin Titus had a different take on the cause of state budget uncertainties.

“I think what has happened to our state is an unrealistic and unsustainable influx of taxpayers’ money over the last four years,” she said, referring to the billions in federal funds Nevada has received through legislation like the American Rescue Plan Act. “We warned folks that we were spending this money way too fast on unsustainable programs, that we were going to fall off a fiscal cliff, and now everybody is complaining that we are there.”

When Lombardo was inaugurated as governor two years ago he inherited a flush budget, much of which was the result of ARPA’s passage in 2021.

Titus also took issue with a suggestion that the governor consider establishing new ongoing revenue streams to fund the programs he is currently recommended be funded through one-time appropriations.

“We’re going to watch very closely,” she said. “We’re going to balance this budget. The money is there. All this conversation about ‘I want (you to guarantee) that you’ll find new funding.’ I think we find ways to spend less.”

The Nevada State Legislature meets for 120 days every other year. The 2025 Legislative Session began Monday and must end on June 2. Budget bills are typically among the last bills passed.

The Economic Forum is required by law to meet again on or before May 1. At that time the forum can revise its revenue projections, which would then have to be reflected in the budget passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor.

Potential Medicaid cuts

Lawmakers also noted the uncertainty being created by the upheaval in Washington could compromise not only the Nevada economy, but the flow of federal funds to Nevada.

State Sen. Rochelle Nguyen asked Cherry whether the governor’s office is working on any worst-case scenario contingency plans in the event of federal cuts to Medicaid. U.S. House Republicans are considering drastic cuts to Medicaid.

Approximately 800,000 Nevadans — 1 in 4 — are on Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

More than 359,000 Nevadans are eligible through the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion, which Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval and the Democratic-controlled Legislature opted the state into in 2012.

Cherry said administrators have been asked to look into the possibility of cuts “but right now those (cuts) are speculative.”

He continued, “We have to build a budget that is within the confines of federal and state law. We are looking at the revenues that would come in under the programs as they are, but we are looking at those.”

Cherry acknowledged that his office and the Department of Health and Human Services received a letter earlier this week from Senate Democrats caucus leaders with questions about how several proposed changes might impact Nevada. The letter requested written responses be submitted by Feb. 18 and that someone from DHHS testify about the information to the Senate Health and Human Services committee and Senate Finance.

Nguyen, the vice chair of Senate Finance, said it’s important for the state to have a plan so “we are not scrambling to cut significant things if that was to be the case.”

Nevada Current is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nevada Current maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Hugh Jackson for questions: info@nevadacurrent.com.

A mere 48 hours after saying it was “too soon to opine” on the prospect of using the Nevada National Guard to aid the incoming Trump administration in mass deporting immigrants, Gov. Joe Lombardo signed onto a letter stating he stands “ready to utilize every tool at (his) disposal—whether through state law enforcement or the National Guard.”

Lombardo was one of 26 governors to sign a joint statement released Wednesday by the Republican Governors Association. Only one Republican governor, Gov. Phil Scott of Vermont, did not sign onto the letter.

“As Republican governors, we stand united in support of President Donald Trump’s unwavering commitment to make America safe again by addressing the illegal immigration crisis and deporting illegal immigrants who pose a threat to our communities and national security,” begins the letter.

The letter concludes: “Together, we will continue to defend the American people, uphold the rule of law, and ensure our nation remains safe and secure for future generations. We stand ready to utilize every tool at our disposal—whether through state law enforcement or the National Guard—to support President Trump in this vital mission.”

A full-throated expression of support appears to contradict statements Lombardo made two days earlier, on Monday, at the Western Governors’ Association, a separate bipartisan group.

When asked if he would consider authorizing the Nevada National Guard to aid the Trump administration in mass deportations, Lombardo replied that “the devil’s in the details” and that it was “too soon to opine on the nebulous or the unknown.”

Lombardo said “we have to figure out what is the better need” for the state’s National Guard and “whether the mission takes priority within the state or to the federal picture or the federal windows, that’s the best way we can answer.”

The Nevada Current reached out to Lombardo’s office Wednesday asking him to clarify his position on the usage of the Nevada National Guard for mass deportations, and what, if any, details about Trump’s plans came to light between his comments Monday and the RGA’s statement Wednesday. The office did not immediately respond.

Nevada Current is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nevada Current maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Hugh Jackson for questions: info@nevadacurrent.com.

With a primary win all but inevitable, President Joe Biden used his Sunday appearance in Las Vegas’s Historic Westside to rally his most vocal supporters in a battleground state that delivered for him four years ago.

In a roughly 30-minute speech at Pearson Community Center, Biden mentioned Tuesday’s presidential preference primary only in passing, instead using his time to highlight the achievements of his first term and scourge former President Donald Trump, who appears poised to secure the Republican nomination over challenger Nikki Haley.

“You all are the reason I am the president of the United States of America,” Biden told the crowd of invited supporters. “You’re the reason. You’re the reason Kamala Harris is a historic vice president. And you’re the reason Donald Trump is the former president. And you’re the reason we’ll make Donald Trump a loser again.”

Biden addressed myriad topics and made several campaign promises, including capping prescription drug prices for all consumers, banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and removing every lead pipe in the country.

“Here’s the deal. The idea. If in fact you do what I hope you do, if you get more people registered to vote between now and the general election, elect all the Democratic congressmen and senators all across the country, give me a Senate and House, I’m going to bring back Roe v Wade,” said Biden.

One of the most touching moments of his speech focused on Biden’s signing in 2022 of the PACT Act, which expanded veterans benefits and made it easier for people to access health care for medical conditions possibly caused by exposure to open burn pits or other toxins, like Agent Orange during the Vietnam War Era.

Biden spoke of his late son, Beau Biden, who died in 2015. Beau Biden, a member of the Delaware Army National Guard, had slept within hundreds of yards of a burn pit in Iraq, said the elder Biden.

“He came home with stage-4 glioblastoma, a brain cancer that there’s no cure for. And he died. And he died,” said Biden. “The idea that he’d have to prove it was because of that is bizarre.”

Someone in a similar position today would not have that hurdle, Biden continued, before contrasting that with Trump refusing to visit a cemetery in France where American soldiers who died during World War II were buried.

“He said those folks buried in that cemetery were suckers and losers,” said Biden. “Suckers and losers, the guy said.”

He added, “To call my son, to call your sons and daughters who gave their lives for this country suckers and losers. That’s how this guy thinks. Who the hell does he think he is?”

Biden also attacked Trump for his support of political extremism and political violence.

Democracy is at stake, Biden warned.

U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen, who was one of several speakers to make comments before Biden, criticized the Nevada Republican Party for attempting to foment “mass chaos” and “mass confusion” this election cycle.

The Nevada Republican Party is holding a caucus on Thursday, two days after the state-run primary on Tuesday. The Nevada GOP, which is run by a recently indicted fake elector, designed their caucus so that candidates would have to choose between it or the primary. The result has caused confusion among voters and rendered Nevada largely irrelevant to the nomination process, as Trump will compete in one event (the caucus) while his only major challenger (Haley) competes in the other.

More than 151,000 ballots had been cast in the presidential preference primary by Sunday morning, according to the Nevada secretary of state’s office. The vast majority of those votes, 127,716, were cast through mail ballots while 23,677 were cast in-person during the one-week early voting period, which ended Friday.

In line with broader efforts to court voters of color, Biden also spoke of fulfilling his 2020 campaign promise to nominate a Black woman to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Biden also highlighted the benefits of the expanded child tax credit, which during the pandemic assisted 380,000 Nevada families. The expanded child tax credit reduced Black child poverty in half and Latino child poverty by 43%, said Biden, before Republicans refused to support it and allowed it to roll back to pre-pandemic limits.

Speakers prior to Biden also highlighted several Black Nevadans who achieved political milestones, including Aaron Ford, who when elected attorney general became the first Black person to hold a statewide constitutional office in Nevada, and Daniele Monroe-Moreno, who last year became the first Black woman to lead the state Democratic party.

Biden’s remarks included no mention of the $118.28 billion global security package released over the weekend that includes a long-anticipated overhaul of immigration law negotiated by a bipartisan trio of senators. Trump and House Republicans oppose the package.

Biden also made no mention of Israel or the assault on Gaza. More than a dozen pro-Palestinaian demonstrators stood outside the community center Sunday chanting and criticizing the president, saying he is allowing taxpayer dollars to fund genocide. Demonstrations like this are now common at campaign events.

Biden’s Nevada trip began Sunday at a fundraiser with approximately four dozen people at a private home in Henderson, according to reports from the White House travel pool. Politico reported top donors included Richard Perkins, Sasha Sutcliffe-Stephenson, Joe and Cynthia Asher, Brian and Myra Greenspun, Greg and Dana Lee, and Lexy Lionel.

Biden is scheduled to depart from Harry Reid International Airport for Washington DC midday Monday.

Nevada Current is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nevada Current maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Hugh Jackson for questions: info@nevadacurrent.com. Follow Nevada Current on Facebook and Twitter.