Logan, Duncansville police departments sign deals with ICE
Logan, Duncansville supervisors have approved agreements
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Two local police departments have entered into memorandums of understanding with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, under which officers in their municipalities will receive 40 hours of online training, along with the power to act with "limited immigration authority while performing routine police duties," according to the police chiefs of those departments and online sources.
Duncansville Borough's Police Department entered into the MOU a couple months ago, and officer training is ongoing, according to Chief Rodney Estep, who is also the borough manager; while Logan Township's supervisors approved their MOU Thursday.
Both departments' agreements with ICE are based on the "task force model" within section 287(g) of Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), a section added in 1996, which "empowers local and state police officers to enforce federal civil immigration laws out in the community during their regular daily duties," according to information based on an ICE web page.
The ICE agreement will give Duncansville's three part-time officers and himself "the ability to assist ICE agents with ICE enforcement for people here illegally," Estep said.
No money is exchanged: the training is free, but ICE isn't paying Duncansville to participate, Estep said.
The training explains immigration law "and gives you resources to contact ICE agents if we encounter anyone suspected of being (here illegally)," Estep said.
Duncansville Mayor Eric Fritz authorized the department's entry into the ICE agreement, Estep said.
The agreement "doesn't change (borough officers') interactions" with the people they encounter, Estep said.
No Duncansville officer has encountered an illegal immigrant since the department entered the MOU, Estep said.
Because that hasn't happened, he's not entirely sure how things would work if it did, but suspects that a Duncansville officer would contact the ICE office in Pittsburgh, after which that office -- or perhaps another ICE office -- would "provide resources and come to assist," Estep said.
The subject of the arrest would then be handed over to ICE for processing.
"I think it's going to be a good tool," Estep said. "It's not changing anything we do on the street; we're not going for targeted enforcement or anything of that nature," he said.
The department is not changing its patrol practices, he added.
"It's just another resource when we encounter an illegal (individual)," he said.
Logan Township's MOU will enhance its department's "investigation and enforcement abilities," said Police Chief Devon Moran.
It will not lead to formation of a special immigration enforcement team in the department and will not result in pursuit of illegal immigrants via administrative or civil warrants -- but rather only in the course of investigations of crime, according to Moran.
Section 287(g) authorizes ICE "to delegate state and local law enforcement officers the authority to perform specified immigration officer functions under ICE's direction and oversight," states an explanation of the program on an ICE web page. "Through the delegation of specified immigration officer duties, the program allows ICE to enhance collaboration with state and local law enforcement partners to protect the homeland through the arrest and removal of aliens who undermine the safety of our nation's communities and the integrity of U.S. immigration laws."
The program benefits local law enforcement agencies "in several ways -- but most notably, it helps you keep your community safe from potentially dangerous criminal aliens," the ICE web page states.
There are 2,013 task force model agreements in 32 states and two U.S. territories, according to an ICE web page.
The ICE website currently denies access to various "task force model" topics, including a fact sheet; an application form for police departments and monthly encounter reports.
Under the Task Force Model, "deputized officers can question individuals about their immigration status, check federal databases, make civil or felony immigration arrests, issue immigration detainers and conduct stops (such as traffic stops) in the field," states an online summary of Immigrant Legal Resource Center information on the model.
An Indivisible Blair County Facebook post criticizes Duncansville's decision to sign the MOU.
"This cannot be normalized," the Indivisible post states. "It is a task force agreement where they act AS ICE DOES," the post states. "They investigate, have access to the database and arrest individuals," it states. "The lack of due process and the brutal cruelty which characterizes ICE operations should not be part of local enforcement activities," it states. "It lends itself to racial profiling, ruins community trust and makes the (local police) complicit in violation of people's constitutional rights."
Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.