BANNER COUNTY -- Banner County, Neb., Sheriff K. Zane Hopkins learned his county is on the list of sanctuary counties.

The Banner County Sheriff's Office said in a statement that it has received several messages about Banner County being a sanctuary county. The statement from the sheriff's office says Banner County did nothing to be put on the list.

"I had several community members reach out to me about it," Sheriff Hopkins said.

Hopkins said Goshen County, Wyo., is having the same concerns. 

He said Banner County is dedicated to work with authorities. Legal citizens are welcome; people who are not in the U.S. legally are not.

"We are going to keep working with ICE," he added

A Google search defines a "Sanctuary County," and leaves the definition ambiguous: "A sanctuary county is a county that has policies to protect undocumented immigrants by limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities. These policies can include:

  • Not asking or reporting immigration status
  • Not detaining undocumented immigrants for low-level offenses
  • Not allowing local law enforcement to be deputized as federal immigration agents. 

 There is no legal definition for sanctuary counties, and what it means can vary from place to place."

In Nebraska, there are at least 20 counties defined as "Sanctuary Counties." The list includes: 

  • Arthur County
  • Banner County
  • Blaine County
  • Douglas County
  • Gosper County
  • Grant County
  • Greeley County
  • Hayes County
  • Hooker County
  • Howard County
  • Johnson County
  • Logan County
  • Loup County
  • McPherson County
  • Nance County
  • Perkins County
  • Platte County
  • Sioux County
  • Thomas County
  • Wheeler County
According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, sanctuary jurisdiction is "generally understood to be a city, town, county, or state that has a policy of protecting undocumented immigrants by not prosecuting them for violations of federal immigration laws. There is no agreed upon definition of a sanctuary jurisdiction."
 
"Nebraska is not a sanctuary anything," Sheriff Hopkins said.