Pettis County sheriff says joint ICE operation in Sedalia led to 18 arrests
Mitchell Kaminski
SEDALIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Pettis County Sheriff’s Office said a three-day joint operation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement resulted in 18 arrests. The operation targeted people investigators identified as fugitives or individuals tied to existing criminal investigations, according to the sheriff’s office.
In a statement to ABC 17 News, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed ICE conducted a targeted operation in Sedalia on June 23 that resulted in the arrests of five “illegal aliens from Mexico”.
“Some with criminal histories ranging from DUI to failure to appear. If you come to our country illegally, we will find you, we will arrest you, and you will never return,” DHS told ABC 17 News in a statement.
The operation ran from June 23 through June 25 and drew significant public attention in Sedalia. Residents reported seeing ICE officers and Pettis County deputies at multiple locations throughout the city.
Sheriff Brad Anders addressed the operation in two public statements posted to social media. According to Anders, the operation focused on people who had already been identified before enforcement began. He rejected suggestions that deputies conducted broad immigration enforcement or randomly stopped people to determine immigration status.
Anders also wrote that ICE developed an initial list of individuals to locate and that members of the sheriff’s office reviewed information already known to local investigators. That information, Anders said, involved people with violent criminal histories, repeat felony activity, outstanding warrants, sexual offenses, documented gang affiliations and other public safety concerns.
The sheriff said targets included people wanted on allegations ranging from child sex crimes and aggravated domestic assault to forgery, felony DWI offenses and controlled substance cases. Anders also said two of the people arrested were among ICE’s five most wanted fugitives in the area.
Not everyone in Sedalia supported the operation. Multiple residents told ABC 17 News that some businesses closed out of fear during the three days ICE was operating in the area.
Andrew Tilley, one of several Sedalia residents critical of ICE’s presence, said he believed the operation was already affecting local businesses and labor.
“Personally, I watched about 15 SUVs chase a single car down Highway 50 yesterday,” Tilley said. “I also heard from a contractor I work with that ICE chased an entire drywall crew off of the Chick-fil-A we’re getting. All these restaurants are closing down in Sedalia because of it. It’s seriously insane.”
The Pettis County Sheriff’s Office is one of more than 90 law enforcement agencies in Missouri that has entered into an agreement with ICE. ICE offers three partnership models for local agencies under it’s 287(g) program: The Jail Enforcement Model, Task Force Model and Warrant Service Officer Program. Agencies may participate in more than one model.
Initially, the Pettis County Sheriff’s Office joined the agency’s Jail Enforcement Model in August 2025. Under the Jail Enforcement Model agreement, trained jail personnel are authorized to identify inmates in local custody who may be subject to immigration removal proceedings.
However, on April 25, the Pettis Sheriff’s Office signed a Task Force Model agreement in April. Under the Task Force Model, participating officers may identify individuals they believe are not U.S. citizens during routine policing, share information with ICE, and, in some cases, carry out immigration-related arrests or serve administrative warrants, but only under ICE supervision.
Anders defended the department’s participation in ICE’s 287(g) program and pushed back against criticism surrounding the enforcement activity.
Anders said the sheriff’s office joined the agreements based on public safety concerns rather than politics.
“Every decision made by the Pettis County Sheriff’s Office begins with one question: Will this make our community safer while remaining faithful to the Constitution and the laws we are sworn to uphold?” Anders wrote.
Pettis County first entered into an agreement with ICE in August 2025 through the Jail Enforcement Model. The sheriff’s office later signed a second agreement under ICE’s Task Force Model in April 2026.
Anders described those partnerships as comparable to other law enforcement relationships with state and federal agencies and said no single agency has all of the resources necessary to address public safety concerns alone.
The sheriff also addressed criticism and rumors that circulated online, saying that the operation was not politically motivated.
In a second statement, Anders said the operation was not intended to broadly target people based solely on immigration status and instead focused on individuals identified through existing intelligence, criminal investigations and outstanding warrants.
He said deputies supported federal fugitive apprehension teams by providing communications, intelligence gathering, detention assistance, and scene security.
Tilley said he viewed that explanation differently and questioned why local law enforcement became involved.
“I think it’s very political,” Tilley said. “Having your county Sheriff get on board with that and help them and assist them just feels like they are letting everybody down.”
Earlier this week, Sedalia Mayor Travis Williams confirmed to ABC 17 News that ICE officers had been operating in the area but said city officials were not notified before officers arrived.
Tilley also said he worries enforcement efforts could have economic consequences for industries that rely heavily on immigrant labor.
“Everything is going to be twice as expensive if we lose all the people that are doing the jobs that nobody wants to do,” Tilly said. “I mean, nobody wants to go catch chickens at Tyson. But that’s what the illegal immigrants do, and they’re some of the nicest, hardest-working people I know. We’re making it impossible for them to gain citizenship. It costs thousands of dollars and you got to take a test that 90% of Americans would fail, it’s just it’s sickening.”
The sheriff’s office has indicated it expects to continue cooperating with ICE through its existing agreements moving forward.