A state government employee in Montana resigned last week over a request to work on a subpoena from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, saying he has a moral obligation not to help the agency.
Jordan Dyrdahl-Roberts, a legal secretary for the Montana Department of Labor and Industry, announced on Twitter last Wednesday that he chose to give his two weeks notice rather than help process ICE subpoenas about state employers and their workers, which he said could be used to "hunt down" and "deport" illegal immigrants.
It would have been my responsibility to prepare the information and hand them off to ICE.
I refuse to aid in the breaking up of families. I refuse to just "follow orders."
It would have been my responsibility to prepare the information and hand them off to ICE.
I refuse to aid in the breaking up of families. I refuse to just "follow orders."
This isn’t an easy decision as it puts me in a delicate financial position.
— Jordon Dyrdahl-Roberts (@dyrbert) February 8, 2018
This isn’t an easy decision as it puts me in a delicate financial position.
— Jordon Dyrdahl-Roberts (@dyrbert) February 8, 2018
Dyrdahl-Roberts, who has worked for the department since 2011, first learned from one of the attorneys with whom he works that he would likely have to start processing subpoenas from ICE soon.
"I immediately said, 'I don't think I can help with that,'" Dyrdahl-Roberts told the Independent Record. "I began talking with management about what the deal was, but I pretty much understood at that point."
Dyrdahl-Roberts said that the national political landscape had weighed heavily on his decision to quit.
"There's a lot going on nationally with the direction of the government as a whole that's pretty scary for people who are plugged in and paying attention," he added. "When I was asked to collaborate [by working on the ICE subpoena], I couldn't."
He also intimated that his displeasure with President Donald Trump's policies was not something that could wait until the 2018 midterm elections to be made known, especially since, in his view, many of the "people being targeted by this administration don't have that long."
He stated that complying with the subpoena was a step too far and that he wanted "to be able to look" his child "in the eye."
So many people are waiting on the 2018 elections, but many people being targeted by this administration don’t have that long.
I’m drawing my line in the sand here. Cooperation with this regime is not acceptable.
— Jordon Dyrdahl-Roberts (@dyrbert) February 8, 2018
Jake Troyer, communications director for Montana's labor department, told the Washington Post that the department had received 14 subpoena requests from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security since 2014.
"Jordon's involvement in the process of responding to subpoenas was limited to assisting attorneys with processing requests," Troyer said.
It is unclear if Dyrdahl-Roberts worked on any of those subpoenas.