Two Utah court clerks — described as “self-appointed ICE vigilantes” — have been arrested after they allegedly helped an illegal migrant avoid being nabbed by an immigration enforcement officer, according to court documents.
Lauren Morrow, 26, and Jennifer Joma, 27, were indicted Wednesday after they allegedly deliberately stopped ICE from carrying out an operation at the Logan City Municipal Justice Court, according to court documents seen by The Post.
The ICE agent turned up at the courthouse to execute a warrant in April, but the two women began combing through court databases, checking the immigration status of people on the docket when they heard the officer was on the premises.
The two women snuck a Guatemalan citizen out of the courthouse via a backroom — and they reveled in their act when they returned, the court documents claimed.
Morrow and Joma waved at a surveillance camera before Morrow made a crude gesture.
Joma and Morrow then continued to search records – finding non-citizens on the court records who ICE might want to arrest.
They allegedly intercepted the ICE target, and two women, one of whom was from Mexico, and they were taken into a backroom and smuggled out of the courthouse.
Meanwhile, the judge went into his office and left his door open, which obstructed his vision. Another clerk, who hasn’t been named in the documents, shut his door.
Then, Joma allegedly put the three migrants in her car and drove away from the courthouse – before returning.
Morrow was questioned about the whereabouts of the migrants but was tight-lipped, the documents said.
Both women face charges of conspiracy to transport and harbor illegal aliens, harboring illegal aliens, and obstruction of Homeland Security proceedings – offenses which carry up to 25 years in prison.
Joma was also slapped with a charge of transporting illegal aliens – which carries a five year prison sentence.
John Huber, the ex-US Attorney for Utah, said the plot was the first he’s seen in the state.
“This is a time when people are on edge wherever you are on the political spectrum, and this issue of immigration enforcement gets people’s attention,” he told KUTV.
“I think a lesson to be learned here is that federal authorities are serious and that it’s no laughing matter to engage in conduct that rises to the level of a federal felony. This is not a joke.”
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