JENKINTOWN, PA - On September 29, the borough council approved a policy that outlined Jenkintown Police Department's stance on illegal immigration, and now, immigrant rights advocates and community members are pushing back on the new measure.
The order that was approved by the council states that local police should treat everyone equally, follow anti-bias rules and cannot enforce immigration laws or call ICE on victims, witnesses, juveniles or if someone is stopped for a traffic violation.
The new measure also instructs police to notify ICE under certain conditions, including if a person is arrested for a crime and is "believed to be in violation of immigration laws," or if the police chief directs an officer to notify ICE — all of which immigrant rights advocates allege allows police to assist ICE agents without judicial warrants.
"The illegal immigration [policy] was just clarifying what the stance is and what our role is in any immigration enforcement, which is we are not involved in any immigration enforcement," Police Chief Thomas Scott said at the meeting.
Advocates, however, are concerned about some of the language in the policy. Jasmine Rivera, executive director of Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition, said the Jenkintown policy falls short of the "welcoming policies" adopted by other communities that define how local law enforcement should interact with ICE.
Sections of the Jenkintown policy that describe how and when Jenkintown police officers can notify ICE, and how the department will respond to ICE detainer requests, are not in line with welcoming policies elsewhere, she said.
Rivera's organization has been supporting Montgomery County members who are pushing for the county and all 62 municipalities to pass welcoming resolutions. "The big, big, big piece around being a welcoming city policy ... is that without a judicial warrant, there is no need or reason for local government employees to be using local tax dollars to assist ICE," she said.
"And what we see in the Jenkintown policy is still continuing to communicate with shared data and collaborate with ICE without a judicial warrant." She said that the existing policy does not mention judicial warrants.
"Additionally, the use of ICE detainers is still allowed," Rivera said. "Once again, no mention of a judicial warrant. And it's important to note that we've seen several local governments in both Pennsylvania and outside Pennsylvania open themselves to legal liability when honoring ICE detainers. Detainers are requests, they are not mandatory, and when local government chooses to honor that request, they are the ones held liable."
Scott and Jenkintown Mayor Gabriel Lerman said they are working to revise the policy in response to community members' concerns. They said, however, that they do not yet have a timeline for when the policy will be updated.
Lerman did not say exactly what will be in the updated policy, but he said it "will reflect ... [that] we value everyone's rights in this community, regardless of their immigration status."
"The Jenkintown Borough Police Department doesn't have the authority to enforce immigration law. So that's not something that they would need to be directly involved in. So our community feels that immigrants are important," Lerman said. "We don't want to create a policy that makes immigrants feel afraid to come to Jenkintown, whether that's to live here or visit here."
Scott said the general order came about when he was updating a number of police department regulations and realized that there was no policy on "dealing with immigration authorities." He said the borough is taking feedback from people in and outside of the borough.
"We're not going to just dismiss this," he said. "We are a welcoming community. We are not one of these communities that's going to be actively engaged in trying to not treat everyone with this dignity and respect."
As local law enforcement, Scott said that the Jenkintown Police Department does not have authority to enforce immigration law. But he said it does have "an obligation" to work with federal, state, and other local law enforcement and do "due diligence" to check whether anyone who has committed a crime in Jenkintown has an outstanding warrant for a misdemeanor or felony with another agency.
Rivera acknowledged the complexities of immigration law, and said it often is "a lot of new information" for people who aren't "actively versed" in the topic. "I believe that with more information, with more education, this policy can be improved," she said.
The order that was approved by the council states that local police should treat everyone equally, follow anti-bias rules and cannot enforce immigration laws or call ICE on victims, witnesses, juveniles or if someone is stopped for a traffic violation.
The new measure also instructs police to notify ICE under certain conditions, including if a person is arrested for a crime and is "believed to be in violation of immigration laws," or if the police chief directs an officer to notify ICE — all of which immigrant rights advocates allege allows police to assist ICE agents without judicial warrants.
"The illegal immigration [policy] was just clarifying what the stance is and what our role is in any immigration enforcement, which is we are not involved in any immigration enforcement," Police Chief Thomas Scott said at the meeting.
Advocates, however, are concerned about some of the language in the policy. Jasmine Rivera, executive director of Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition, said the Jenkintown policy falls short of the "welcoming policies" adopted by other communities that define how local law enforcement should interact with ICE.
Sections of the Jenkintown policy that describe how and when Jenkintown police officers can notify ICE, and how the department will respond to ICE detainer requests, are not in line with welcoming policies elsewhere, she said.
Rivera's organization has been supporting Montgomery County members who are pushing for the county and all 62 municipalities to pass welcoming resolutions. "The big, big, big piece around being a welcoming city policy ... is that without a judicial warrant, there is no need or reason for local government employees to be using local tax dollars to assist ICE," she said.
"And what we see in the Jenkintown policy is still continuing to communicate with shared data and collaborate with ICE without a judicial warrant." She said that the existing policy does not mention judicial warrants.
"Additionally, the use of ICE detainers is still allowed," Rivera said. "Once again, no mention of a judicial warrant. And it's important to note that we've seen several local governments in both Pennsylvania and outside Pennsylvania open themselves to legal liability when honoring ICE detainers. Detainers are requests, they are not mandatory, and when local government chooses to honor that request, they are the ones held liable."
Scott and Jenkintown Mayor Gabriel Lerman said they are working to revise the policy in response to community members' concerns. They said, however, that they do not yet have a timeline for when the policy will be updated.
Lerman did not say exactly what will be in the updated policy, but he said it "will reflect ... [that] we value everyone's rights in this community, regardless of their immigration status."
"The Jenkintown Borough Police Department doesn't have the authority to enforce immigration law. So that's not something that they would need to be directly involved in. So our community feels that immigrants are important," Lerman said. "We don't want to create a policy that makes immigrants feel afraid to come to Jenkintown, whether that's to live here or visit here."
Scott said the general order came about when he was updating a number of police department regulations and realized that there was no policy on "dealing with immigration authorities." He said the borough is taking feedback from people in and outside of the borough.
"We're not going to just dismiss this," he said. "We are a welcoming community. We are not one of these communities that's going to be actively engaged in trying to not treat everyone with this dignity and respect."
As local law enforcement, Scott said that the Jenkintown Police Department does not have authority to enforce immigration law. But he said it does have "an obligation" to work with federal, state, and other local law enforcement and do "due diligence" to check whether anyone who has committed a crime in Jenkintown has an outstanding warrant for a misdemeanor or felony with another agency.
Rivera acknowledged the complexities of immigration law, and said it often is "a lot of new information" for people who aren't "actively versed" in the topic. "I believe that with more information, with more education, this policy can be improved," she said.
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