Two former Utah state court clerks were charged with conspiracy to transport and harbor illegal aliens after they allegedly helped an illegal alien evade Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrest, according to a Wednesday press release from the Justice Department (DOJ).
Following a June 3 indictment, which was recently unsealed, Jennifer Joma, 27, and Lauren Kelsey Morrow, 26, have also been charged with harboring illegal aliens and obstruction of proceedings before departments and agencies, according to the DOJ. In addition, Joma has been charged with transporting illegal aliens.
Joma and Morrow are accused of blocking an immigration-related arrest by an ICE officer at Logan City Municipal Justice Court on April 9. The ICE officer entered the court with an administrative warrant to arrest an illegal alien who was due in court for a hearing. He later returned to his vehicle to wait for the illegal alien to exit the courthouse so he could make a lawful arrest. (RELATED: Video Appears To Show Man Brandish Knife On Charlotte Light Rail Amid Argument)
Joma and Morrow allegedly used the court databases to determine the immigration status of everyone listed on the court docket and to intercept multiple illegal aliens. The pair then allegedly led a group of illegal aliens out of the court via the back door. The individual the ICE officer was set to arrest had purportedly been among the group Joma and Morrow helped to escape, the DOJ said.
FEDERAL PROSECUTORS HAVE CHARGED TWO FORMER UTAH COURT CLERKS ACCUSED OF HELPING PEOPLE AVOID IMMIGRATION AUTHORITIES.
Twenty-seven-year-old Jennifer Joma and 26-year-old Lauren Kelsey Morrow are accused of helping undocumented immigrants evade ICE agents at the Logan City… pic.twitter.com/UKyKAZx1lp
— Heidi Hatch KUTV (@tvheidihatch) June 10, 2026
Joma and Morrow were caught waving and smiling at a surveillance camera after allegedly helping the group of illegal aliens to escape. Morrow also allegedly made an obscene gesture at the camera. During a second incident, Joma allegedly drove away from the courthouse with three illegal aliens before returning to work.
Prosecutors described the pair as “self-appointed anti-ICE vigilantes” who “took the law into their own hands” in a federal court filing, according to KUTV.
Similarly, former U.S. Attorney for Utah John Huber said the incident was “no laughing matter.”
“We can all have our deeply held political or philosophical beliefs,” Huber told KUTV. “But when we try to impose those upon others by breaking the laws and standards of society, that’s when we leave the safety net.”
“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. Brandishing an obscene gesture during the course of an alleged federal offense is never likely to inspire prosecutors to look the other way,” he continued.
Joma and Morrow were both booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on Tuesday, KSL reported. They are scheduled to be arraigned in federal court Thursday, according to the outlet.