SARANAC LAKE, NY - The Village of Saranac Lake has approved a resolution limiting how its police force can cooperate with federal immigration authorities.
The resolution reportedly bars village police from enforcing federal civil immigration laws and prohibits U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from using local officers to conduct investigations or make arrests, according to the Adirondack Explorer. The trustees approved the resolution in a 3-2 vote in February, following public comments that largely supported the measure.
The policy builds on a softer resolution the board passed in 2025, called "Safeguarding Our Residents and Our Financial Resources." The original version of that measure, which was proposed by village trustee Aurora White in February 2025, would have prohibited village police from using local funding or personnel to carry out immigration enforcement.
After being tabled and revised several times, the village board passed an altered version of the resolution in September 2025 with softer commitments, which trustee White said no longer accomplished the goal of her original resolution.
Village trustee Matt Scollin proposed a new resolution, titled "Limiting Local Law Enforcement Cooperation with Federal Immigration Enforcement," at the village's February board meeting. Scollin said he introduced the stronger resolution in response to watching violence by ICE agents unfold in recent months.
Scollin's new resolution draws a clearer distinction between criminal and civil immigration enforcement. Under the new policy, village police will continue to investigate criminal offenses involving immigrants, in which an arrest warrant is issued by a judge.
However, officers will not engage with ICE in enforcing civil immigration violations, such as overstaying a visa or entering the country without proper documentation. Civil immigration offenses are typically enforced by ICE through administrative warrants.
The new measure bars the village police department from entering into a 287(g) agreement with ICE, a federal program that authorizes local law enforcement officers to perform certain immigration enforcement functions. The St. Lawrence County Sheriff recently became the first North Country law enforcement agency to adopt such an agreement.
The resolution also bars local police resources being spent on behalf of federal immigration enforcement, limits information sharing between SLPD and federal immigration enforcement agencies and requires village police to develop a training policy to ensure officer compliance with the resolution.
The resolution reportedly bars village police from enforcing federal civil immigration laws and prohibits U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from using local officers to conduct investigations or make arrests, according to the Adirondack Explorer. The trustees approved the resolution in a 3-2 vote in February, following public comments that largely supported the measure.
The policy builds on a softer resolution the board passed in 2025, called "Safeguarding Our Residents and Our Financial Resources." The original version of that measure, which was proposed by village trustee Aurora White in February 2025, would have prohibited village police from using local funding or personnel to carry out immigration enforcement.
After being tabled and revised several times, the village board passed an altered version of the resolution in September 2025 with softer commitments, which trustee White said no longer accomplished the goal of her original resolution.
Village trustee Matt Scollin proposed a new resolution, titled "Limiting Local Law Enforcement Cooperation with Federal Immigration Enforcement," at the village's February board meeting. Scollin said he introduced the stronger resolution in response to watching violence by ICE agents unfold in recent months.
Scollin's new resolution draws a clearer distinction between criminal and civil immigration enforcement. Under the new policy, village police will continue to investigate criminal offenses involving immigrants, in which an arrest warrant is issued by a judge.
However, officers will not engage with ICE in enforcing civil immigration violations, such as overstaying a visa or entering the country without proper documentation. Civil immigration offenses are typically enforced by ICE through administrative warrants.
The new measure bars the village police department from entering into a 287(g) agreement with ICE, a federal program that authorizes local law enforcement officers to perform certain immigration enforcement functions. The St. Lawrence County Sheriff recently became the first North Country law enforcement agency to adopt such an agreement.
The resolution also bars local police resources being spent on behalf of federal immigration enforcement, limits information sharing between SLPD and federal immigration enforcement agencies and requires village police to develop a training policy to ensure officer compliance with the resolution.
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