Two people arrested after Border Patrol stop near Grand Marais

This article has been updated to include information about the Tuesday protests, additional information from the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, and information obtained through conversations with individuals associated with those who were arrested.

Two individuals were arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents on Monday, June 8, following a traffic stop near Grand Marais.

Border Patrol agents conducted a license plate check on a vehicle that was flagged in connection with an overstayed visa, according to the Cook County Sheriff’s Office. Agents then stopped the vehicle and took both occupants into custody.

The driver was arrested for overstaying a visa, while the passenger was arrested for being out of visa status, the Cook County Sheriff’s Office said in a Tuesday news release.

“According to Border Patrol, they will not be charged with any criminal violations,” the Sheriff’s Office said. “They were transported to the Duluth Border Patrol Station for further processing under administrative immigration violations as per CBP guidelines and policy.”

The Sheriff’s Office said, “We have been advised that no ICE agents are currently working in Cook County.”

Interim Cook County Sheriff Ben Hallberg told WTIP that Border Patrol agents are “able to make traffic stops as part of their job duties.  They do not notify the Sheriff’s Office when making any stops.”

Following news of the arrests in Grand Marais and the press release from the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, the organization Arrowhead Indivisible organized a protest along Highway 61 in front of Java Moose on Tuesday evening in response to the arrests. Protesters lined Wisconsin Street, holding signs opposing ICE activity.

Protests in Grand Marais on Tuesday evening | Photo by Josh Hinke

Hallberg told WTIP that the reason the Sheriff’s Office released information on Tuesday evening was because they had received several phone calls asking if ICE was in town and observing information on social media and local Facebook community pages about ICE in Cook County.

Hallberg said, the rumors floating around town of ICE working in Cook County “were false.”

On Wednesday, WTIP confirmed that the two individuals who were arrested in Grand Marais are currently being held in the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office jail in Superior, Wis,.  On the jail roster, the arresting agency is listed as ICE.

WTIP asked for confirmation from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office that the arresting agency was ICE rather than U.S. Border Patrol and was told, “You would have to contact the arresting agency for that. We just house them.”

WTIP then spoke with Hallberg who said that although the jail roster lists the arresting agency as ICE, it was Grand Marais based Border Patrol agents that conducted the arrest and that “ICE was not involved in this specific instance” in Cook County.

Hallberg said sheriff offices may categorize arresting agencies differently after booking for internal record-keeping purposes, but reiterated that he had been told by Grand Marais Border Patrol agents that they were the agency that arrested the two individuals. Hallberg said he has no information about which agencies were contacted or became involved after the two individuals were arrested and transported out of Cook County.

WTIP spoke with individuals connected to the two people who were arrested, who said they had observed a white, unmarked vehicle in Cook County prior to the arrests. They also said the two people were traveling in a vehicle that they believe would not have prompted an immigration-related matter after conducting a license plate check.

As of Wednesday afternoon,  one of the individuals status is listed as “In CBP Custody,” according to the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement online detainee locater system.

WTIP also spoke with a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement representative, who said that while ICE and Border Patrol often work together, an individual in ICE custody would be listed in the detainee locator system as “In ICE Custody.”

WTIP has contacted U.S. Border Patrol and has not received a response. WTIP has contacted U.S. Immigrations and Customs and Enforcement to request additional information regarding the arrests.

Kalli Hawkins June 9, 2026