Town cops barred from immigration interrogation

New law says local officers won’t perform federal enforcement duties

The Town Board has adopted a law that bars local police from performing federal immigration enforcement functions.

The law — which comes amid a growing “sanctuary” movement to protect undocumented immigrants in the Hudson Valley and across the nation — was adopted in a unanimous vote Thursday evening.

Town Supervisor Neil Bettez said there has been growing support for the law among New Paltz residents who contend the federal government, led by President Donald Trump, is not concerned about the impact on families of deportation efforts.

“We probably had public comment for about 45 minutes [at Thursday’s meeting],” Bettez said. “It was pretty moving stuff again, with stories about people being afraid that their parents are going to be taken away while they are at school, that they are going to be shipped off.”

Town Board member Daniel Torres, in a Facebook posting late Thursday, said the new law restricts “local law enforcement from coordi-

nating with ICE (U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement) for the purposes of immigration enforcement” and “will ensure that ALL members of our community can contact or work with the town police in a time of need without fear of deportation.”

The new law states town police are not be allowed to “stop, question, interrogate, investigate or arrest an individual based solely on ... actual or suspected immigration or citizenship status.”

The law also prohibits asking about the “immigration status of an individual, including a crime victim, a witness, or a person who calls or approaches the police seeking assistance, unless necessary to investigate criminal activity by that individual.”

New Paltz police can respond to a “civil immigration detainer” from federal authorities for up to 48 hours if the request is accompanied by a judicial warrant. In the absence of a warrant, police can detain someone if there is probable cause to believe the person has re-entered the country

after being removed and also has been convicted of a felony.

Bettez said the new law is intended to keep people from being improperly interrogated and protects the town from dealing in federal matters without a legal basis.

“It doesn’t prevent people from being deported if they’re undocumented,” Bettez said. “It just means that our police will not be asking people for their immigration status.”

The approval of the New Paltz law comes in the wake town resident Joel Guerrero, a legal immigrant from the Dominican Republic,

being detained and processed for deportation over missing a 2011 court date in a drug case. It also comes as the Ulster County Legislature in considering a resolution that could, in effect, make Ulster a “sanctuary” county.

The eight-page county resolution — sponsored by Minority Leader Hector Rodriguez, a New Paltz Democrat, and officially called “A Policy to Maintain a Safe, Inclusive Government and Ensure the Protection, Order, Conduct, Safety, Health and Well-Being of All Persons in Ulster County” — spells out how county government officials can and

cannot interact with immigrants and federal immigration officials.

Among other provisions, the county measure calls for county employees to not stop, question, interrogate or arrest individuals “solely for the purpose of enforcing immigration law”; to not perform the functions of a federal immigration officer; to honor detainer requests from federal agents only in specific limited situations; and to deny federal agents access to inmates in county custody.

In January, the Kingston Common Council adopted a memorializing resolution declaring the city “welcoming

and inclusive” toward undocumented immigrants. Two months later, the Newburgh City Council declared Newburgh a “fair and welcoming city,” effectively announcing itself as a “sanctuary city” for immigrants, regardless of legal status.

In an interview at the Freeman office earlier this week, U.S. Rep. John Faso said local-level sanctuary resolutions are not particularly significant.

“As a practical matter, I think that most of the proposals don’t have any real meaningful impact,” said Faso, R-Kinderhook. “I think much of it is a rhetorical or political exercise.”