Bucks Sheriff Signs Task Force Agreement With ICE: What Will It Do?

DOYLESTOWN, PA ? Bucks County Sheriff Fred Harran has signed a memorandum of understanding with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, also known as ICE, that would create a task force within the Sheriff's Department to cooperate and carry out some federal immigration enforcement functions, including assistance with ICE raids.

Pending the final approval from ICE, under ICE's 287g task force model, a select group of Bucks County deputies would be trained to enforce limited immigration law and perform duties including the authority to identify and process removable illegal aliens, particularly those with criminal charges. They will also be allowed to join ICE raids, according to a boilerplate MOU.

?My office?s priority is straightforward - ensuring the safety of the people of Bucks County," said Harran in a statement. "With nearly 40 years in law enforcement, I know that public safety is a team sport and it's crucial that agencies work together toward common goals in our community.

?That's why we are participating in the task force model. This is a focused effort to identify and address individuals who have committed crimes within our county," he said. "I?ll work with anyone who wants to address those who threaten the safety of our neighborhoods, where we can. But I answer to the people of Bucks County, not Washington, DC.?

Harran said the federal government has a role to play, noting that the cost of deportation or ICE operations will not fall on Bucks County taxpayers.

?The fact is, this is what we do. We already collaborate with ICE within our correctional facilities, identifying and processing inmates who are in the country illegally,? said Harran.

"The 'task force model' allows us to extend this targeted approach into the community, focusing on individuals actively involved in criminal behavior," he said. "This is just another tool to enhance public safety - and one that means savings for Bucks County taxpayers as these criminals would be transferred to federal ICE facilities, not our jail."

Deputies assigned to this task force will receive specialized training to "ensure the work is done effectively and within the bounds of the law" and always within the scope of their responsibilities, said Harran.

?We are committed to keeping Bucks County safe, and this initiative is a practical way to achieve that goal. We're not backing down from our responsibility to protect our community.?

The Other Side

Immigrant Rights Action is calling on the Bucks County Sheriff's Office to immediately rescind its ICE application.

"We were deeply upset to learn that the sheriff has chosen to apply to Immigration Customs and Enforcement?s (ICE) 287g program, which would deputize county officers to arrest our immigrant neighbors for the purposes of deportation," said Immigrants Rights Action Executive Director Heidi Roux.

"It is not the jurisdiction or responsibility of local law enforcement to enforce federal immigration law," said Roux. "The fact that our Sheriff is choosing to use local tax dollars, when we are facing economic uncertainty, for duties not pertaining to the Sheriff?s office, is an affront to everyone who calls Bucks County their home.

"Additionally, this opens the county to new legal liability; should anyone be erroneously held by the Sheriff for the purposes of immigration matters, it will be our Sheriff?s office who is held liable
and therefore open for suit, as we saw in the Galarza case in Lehigh County," said Roux. "We call on the Sheriff?s office to rescind its application to ICE."

Roux said her organization has seen "time and time again" when local law enforcement enters agreements with ICE, community trust "is obliterated and public safety erodes. When residents feel that their immigration status may put them at risk of discrimination or deportation, they are less likely to cooperate with police, report crimes, or seek help when victims of crime. Immigrant Rights Action has spent years building local trust between law enforcement and the community."

Roux said federal law does not require localities to participate in or enforce federal immigration law. To the contrary, immigration regulation and enforcement are squarely federal functions, she said.

In addition, Roux said the courts have routinely found that the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and a legal rule known as the Anti-Commandeering Doctrine permit states and localities to opt out of participating in federal immigration enforcement.

"It is our mission to uphold human rights and ensure that all individuals are treated with dignity and respect. The actions of Sheriff Harran?s office must reflect those values and applying to the 287g does not do so. Immigrants, like all residents, deserve to live without fear of discrimination. We once again call on the Sheriff?s office to rescind its application to ICE."