Bucks County Commissioners oppose sheriff’s ICE partnership. What now?

Bucks County Commissioners voted along party lines Wednesday to formalize opposition to county sheriff deputies participating in a controversial Immigrations and Customs Enforcement program.

Commissioners Robert Harvie and Diane Ellis Marseglia, who are Democrats, supported a resolution reaffirming its belief that the authority to enter into contracts rests with solely with the county commissioners. Republican Commissioner Gene DiGirolamo opposed.

The vote was followed by loud applause and cheers from the nearly 200 people who attended the meeting Wednesday.

The vote solidifies the county’s opposition to Sheriff Fred Harran’s plan to train about a dozen of his 75 deputies to act as federal ICE officers and assist in enforcing immigration law while performing their other duties.

The resolution also warns that employees in the sheriff’s department who rely on the authority in the ICE agreement do so at their own risk and they could potentially be held personally liable for any actions taken under the agreement.

ICE approved Harran’s 287(g) application on May 13, making it one of now 10 in Pennsylvania who’ve signed onto 287(g) participation, as of Tuesday.

Among the other Pennsylvania sheriff’s offices participating in 287(g), only Franklin County received county commissioners authorization, according to an online review.

Before the vote, DiGirolamo questioned county solicitor Amy Fitzpatrick, a Democratic county judicial candidate in November, what would happen if the motion failed and if it passed.

The resolution re-affirms the county law department’s legal interpretation that only the county commissioners have the power to enter into a contract, which would invalidate the ICE contract, Fitzpatrick said.

If the resolution failed, it doesn’t change the legal opinion, but adopting it might offer the county protections if the matter ends up in court, she added.

“It’s very, very confusing, but I guess it will be settled in court one way or another,” DiGirolamo said.

Last week the ACLU of Pennsylvania threatened to sue if Harran doesn’t abandon his 287(g) plans contending a sheriff does not have authority to enter into the agreement without county commissioner approval citing state law and the Pennsylvania Constitution.

The civil rights group contends the sheriff is an independent, but not autonomous office; as the county’s governing body only the commissioners have legal authority to enter into binding agreements, according to the ACLU.

Harran, a Republican up for re-election, has hired Delaware County attorney Wally Zimolong, who will represent him with attorney Joe Pizzo, a GOP judicial candidate for the Bucks County court in November.

In a letter sent to the Bucks County solicitor Tuesday, Zimolong contends federal law gives Harran the authority to enter into agreements including with ICE and threatened to pursue the matter in federal court.

“The county is flat out wrong on the law,” Zimolong added. “We are prepared to vigorously defend that right.”

Zimolong  represented then-GOP candidate Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee last year in a lawsuit that ordered  Bucks County to extend in-person mail-in voting one day.

Last month Harran confirmed he applied to ICE to implement a Task Force model of the 287(g) program, which gives sheriff deputies the authority to question, detain and arrest individuals they suspect of violating immigration law while performing their routine duties. Deputy sheriffs could also assist ICE in broader immigration activities.

On Wednesday Harvie and Ellis Marseglia said that neither the commissioners or the county solicitor have reviewed a copy of the agreement Harran signed and he has not provided them one. Harran referred questions to Zimolong, who did not immediately respond Wednesday to an email about the contract claims.

Previously the Democratic majority commissioners have called participation in the program unnecessary given that immigration and citizenship status is part of the routine checks done when defendants enter the county correctional system. Undocumented defendants identified are detained and referred to ICE, the commissioners said.

The commissioners contend the ICE agreement forces the county to be financially responsible for the costs of operating the program including any litigation filed as a result of its participation. The county has a $500,000 deductible for each  legal claim under its liability coverage, meaning it has to meet that threshold before insurance takes over.

The proposed participation in the ICE program has generated opposition from civil and immigration rights groups concerned that cooperating with ICE would result in less reporting of crime, more racial profiling and open the county up to potential costly  litigation.

Most of the people who spoke about the program Wednesday opposed participation and received loud cheers and applause, and in one case, a standing ovation.

Morrisville resident Megan Little pointed out that being in the U.S. without proper documentation is generally considered a civil offense, not a criminal one.

She called 287(g) a program “about giving an outlet, a channel, for mistreating immigrants,” Little said.

Sharon Moon noted that available statistics suggest that half of the immigrants that ICE has detained this year have no criminal records.

She contends that law enforcement in communities where the program exists have found few immigrants are willing to come forward as victims or witnesses out of fear they’ll be targeted.

“This is about becoming a mini ICE,” Moon added. “This is not about safety it’s about something much darker. We can’t trust ICE. They don’t even know what Habeas Corpus is.”

Buckingham resident Ed Mackhouse was one of three people who spoke in favor of the county participation.

“I care more for the innocent people,” Mackhouse said. “Everyone should agree to protect innocent people.”

Bensalem resident Stephanie Inselberg asked the Democratic majority if they were more interested in having criminals on the street. She also cautioned the commissioners to “tread lightly over executive orders.”

In his comments DiGirolamo expressed admiration for Harran, whom he has known for 35 years, and noted he has accomplished a “number of good things” when he worked in the Bensalem police department.

“When it comes to public safety and law enforcement, I could go on and on (about Harran),” DiGirolamo said. “I trust Fred. I’ve watched as he protected our community.”

DiGirolamo added that he believes when Harran says that participation in the 287(g) program would only train deputies to do paperwork and access the federal database for defendants in law enforcement custody.

Harran has repeatedly also stated that his office has no plans to allow deputies to exercise the full legal authority available to them under the Task Force Model.

But Ellis Marseglia reminded DiGirolamo no one knows exactly what the agreement Harran signed says.

“You haven’t seen the contract,” she added.

Reporting by Jo Ciavaglia, Bucks County Courier Times / Bucks County Courier Times