Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek may be retiring from his job as sheriff, but he isn’t ready to leave life as an elected official just yet. Pulkrabek announced he would run for the Iowa House seat in District 73, which is currently held by Rep. Bobby Kaufmann (R-Wilton).
For those wanting more information on Rep. Kaufmann, you can visit his Facebook page.
This is a rare case where a “lawman” is not the law-and-order candidate.
Pulkrabek has a history of statements that reveal he doesn’t believe in any hint of an America First philosophy.
To the contrary. Pulkrabek was one of the sheriffs in Iowa who refused to cooperate with ICE detainer requests.
In March of 2017, Pulkrabek said, “we’re not going to participate in raids with ICE. That’s not our responsibility.” He said immigration raids are for ICE to do.
“That’s their work,” he added.
He added that his deputies do not ask about immigration status or honor ICE detainer requests.
“We don’t ask immigration status,” Pulkrabek was quoted as saying. “If we have a victim of a crime, we want to do what we can to assist that person.”
It would seem assisting the victim of the crime would include making sure the full weight of the justice system comes down on the perpetrator. And, if the perpetrator is an illegal alien, it would seem only just to make sure they were punished for all of the laws they violated, not just some.
In 2018, after Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill cracking down on sanctuary cities and counties into law, Pulkrabek was vocal in his criticisms. He called it a “terrible law.”
While the sanctuary counties and cities bill undoubtedly increases safety in Iowa neighborhoods, Pulkrabek’s biggest concern was his department being able to have some sort of welcoming language that helps build trust in law enforcement and the illegal immigrant community.
“There are going to be victims out there whose fear of law enforcement is greater than their fear of the victimizer,” Pulkrabek said. “My job just got a lot harder.”
Really? ICE detainer requests do not apply to victims of crimes. They apply to folks who are taken to prison presumably because they were the ones who likely did the victimizing.
You know what does make Pulkrabek’s job harder? Having people in the country who have no legal right to be here.
In 2019, Pulkrabek didn’t hide just who he has more concern for — legal Iowa citizens or illegal immigrants.
“It worries me when things like this get brought up because it scares the immigrant community,” he said. “We want them to understand if they’re victims of a crime, we want them to come forward.”
Political ideology shouldn’t interfere with law enforcement officials doing their job, which is still enforcing the law as far as we know.
Pulkrabek’s past statements and preference of protecting illegal immigrants instead of the citizens of Iowa should cause plenty of concern for law-abiding, legal citizens of the Hawkeye State.
