County sheriff signs ICE pact
NYCLU reiterates criticism of program
TROY, N.Y. » After debating since last year, about whether or not to take part in the “Jail Enforcement Officer” model of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement 287[ g] program, Rensselaer County Sheriff Patrick Russo said he recently did sign and approve an agreement to take part in the program.
In October, Russo applied to the program, and since then his decision has come under criti- cism from some county residents and officials.
According to the ICE website, the application “allows a state or local law enforcement entity to enter into a partnership with ICE,” and that would allow the county jail to enforce federal immigration law at a local level.
Russo, a Republican, previously said that joining the program will allow the jail to house ICE prisoners, providing additional revenue to the county at a current rate of $97 per day per inmate.
As part of the agreement, Russo said his deputies will not be trained to do any immigration sweeps and that only two of his correctional officers within the county jail will soon be trained to guard the ICE prisoners being held in the county jail.
“The bottom line is that this is another tool in the toolbox for me to use to make the community safer,” said Russo.
In a letter sent Tuesday, the New York Civil Liberties Union admonished the Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Office for entering into an agreement with federal immigration authorities.
The NYCLU reiterated concerns that the program, known as a 287(g) agreement, would encourage racial profiling and harm public safety.
“The sheriff’s decision to deputize officers to work on behalf of ICE will sow distrust between immigrant communities and law enforcement,” said Melanie Trimble, NYCLU Capitol Region director, while also noting that the group will monitor the agreement in Rensselaer County now. “This agreement was made without public input and disregards the needs of the people of Rensselaer County. The NYCLU will be closely monitoring implementation of this agreement to ensure that civil rights abuses including racial profiling, which have accompanied such programs in other states, do not occur in Rensselaer County.”
Following Russo’s agreement with the program, The Legal Aid Society called on New York
State Governor Andrew Cuomo to use his executive authority or work with the Legislature on a solution to prohibit local jurisdictions from participating in U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s 287(g) program.
These programs should not have a home in New York State. Period,” said Hasan Shafiqullah, Attorney-In- Charge of the Immigration Law Unit at The Legal Aid Society. “We are well aware of the impact of 287(g) in other jurisdictions, and well aware of how it undermines sanctuary initiatives and efforts to keep families united. Also, working with ICE in any capacity compromises community trust, especially in neighborhoods of color. The Legal Aid Society urges Governor Cuomo and other state leaders to ban jurisdictions from entering into these partnerships immediately.”
Members of the Rensselaer County Legislature Democratic Minority have been concerned about the application since Russo said he had interest in it last year and they have been trying to create a resolution urging Russo to withdraw from the applica- tion and program, but that resolution continues to get voted down during special committee meetings with the Republican majority.
Minority leader Peter Grimm said that according to Article 17 in the memorandum of agreement with the ICE program, that Russo should have held public forums and had more public engagement with the community.
“The document states that the Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Office will as necessary engage in steering committee meetings and may engage in other community outreach with individuals and organizations expressing interest… so this says they are by commitment if he signed this to have a public engagement,” said Grimm.
During a public forum Wednesday night, Rensselaer County Legislature Chairman Mike Stammel, who is a Republican, said that he also wished that Russo held public forums with the community.
However, he and the majority still support Russo and his intentions of the program.
“We have no more authority to direct the sheriff as to what to do than those who spoke at the public forum of the Legislature,” he said. “It is the sense of this legislative majority to let the sheriff do the job he was elected to do, and we believe that a majority of Rensselaer County residents feel the same way.”
“The sheriff has said several times that he has agreed to participate in a ‘Jail Enforcement Officer’ model of the program with the federal government,” said Stammel in a statement. “That is, only people that have been remanded to Rensselaer County for committing a crime in our community will be entered into the federal database to check their criminal background and immigration status. As a result, the Legislature will be voting on a resolution supporting the sheriff’s efforts to keep Rensselaer County residents safe from criminals.”
Russo said that although he did not host public forums, he did note that he did speak to many community members and also wrote a letter to the county residents explaining his reasoning for the program involvement.
“The majority of people that I spoke with out in the community, whether it was a market or hardware store, supported it,” said Russo.
The sheriff said he only received roughly 20 emails, letters or phone calls from people within the county opposing his involvement in the program.