LEGISLATURE BACKS SHERIFF’S ICE DEAL
Majority supports participation in program
TROY, N.Y. » Thirteen members of the Rensselaer County Legislature’s Republican majority voted in favor of a resolution Tuesday night that supports Rensselaer County Sheriff Patrick Russo taking part in the Homeland Security 287(g) Criminal Alien Jail Identification Program through ICE.
The resolution was approved with a 13- 6 vote, with all six members of the Democratic Minority group voting against the resolution supporting the sheriff. They have been opposed to the program since Russo announced his interest in it late last year.
Under the agreement, Russo said, the Sheriff’s Office will have two Correctional Officers within the county jail trained to work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to identify those individuals who have committed a crime, been sent to jail, and have the ability to determine if those individuals are wanted by DHS/ICE.
Russo officially signed the memorandum of agreement at the end of Jan. and said last week that the department had already been approved to participate in the program.
Members of the minority group have tried to push through resolutions urging Russo to withdraw his application and from the program; however, those resolutions fail to make it out of the legisla-
ture’s committee meetings, with members of the majority shooting it down each month.
Minority Leader Peter Grimm said that his group will continue to push forward their resolution to urge the sheriff to withdraw from the program since they believe too many of their constituents are opposed to the program.
“I would just like to say how disappointed I was that our resolution didn’t make it out of committee [again],” said Grimm towards the end of the legislature’s monthly meeting Tuesday night. “I thought with all of the feedback and what we have heard over the past few months from the constituency that we would at least bring it to the floor [for an actual vote].”
“I think that the sheriff has a responsibility to come here and straighten out the questions that the people had to ask,” added Deputy Minority Leader Ed Manny.
However, the members of the majority said they are supporting the sheriff’s participation in the program.
“One of our duties as a legislator is to protect the people of the community we serve, that means supporting common sense law enforcement like the sheriff has proposed,” said District 4 legislator Jake Ashby.
“In my personal opinion, Sheriff Russo did a reasonable job providing explanations to misinterpreted facts,” added District 3 Legislator Todd Tesman.
During Tuesday night’s meeting, three members of the public were able to speak their mind about why they opposed the program prior to the legislature passing the resolution supporting Russo.
Some speakers directed their comments towards Russo, who was in the crowd.
“Sir, you are a coward,” Troy resident Siobhan Burke said to Russo. “Your refusal to engage with the public on this issue is shameful.”
“I’ve only met a handful of people who think this is a good idea,” added Rensselaer County resident Lige English, even though some Republican legislators voiced their opinion afterwards saying that most constituents in their districts are for the program.
Russo, a Republican, said that he chose not to host a public forum before because he believes from prior experience that those types of forums just become a platform for protests from people that may not even be from the county. Russo also said that he was pleased to see the majority of the legislature approve the resolution supporting him and the program.
Russo did meet with the majority and minority of the legislature in separate meetings during the process.
“I appreciate [the majority] of the legislature supporting me and the 287 (g) program,” said Russo. “It’s a shame that it [got] political because it’s not political because it’s about public safety and not about politics. As far as the speakers, in my opinion they said what they were going to say; they’re people who I think would not change their mind no matter what statistics or evidence is in front of them.”