A Bucks County judge sided with Sheriff Fred Harran Wednesday ruling that his ICE 287(g) partnership was legal and can move forward.
The ACLU of Pennsylvania and fellow plaintiff Make the Road PA issued a joint statement:
“We reject the ruling that has allowed an illegal and dangerous 287(g) agreement to take root in our Bucks community—a decision that undermines our values, our laws, and our humanity. This agreement was not approved by the elected Bucks County Commissioners. It was initiated and signed unilaterally by Sheriff Fred Harran without public input, without transparency, and without legal authority. This is not just reckless—it is unlawful. And it is a betrayal of the trust we place in our public officials.”
Harran applied for his office to participate in ICE’s 287(g) “task force model” partnership, a program described as a “force multiplier” and the most aggressive of three options as it allows deputized deputies to act as de facto ICE agents as they perform their day-to-day duties.
Democratic candidate for sheriff Danny Ceisler said if elected he vows to “end this deportation partnership once and for all.”
“Just because he’s allowed to do it doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. I have opposed this partnership from the beginning … because when you scare immigrant communities from being able to report crime it makes all of us less safe,” said Ceisler. “Now we have one opportunity to end this program once and for all and that is by defeating Fred Harran on November 4.”
NAACP Bucks County, also a plaintiff, issued a statement Wednesday evening criticizing the ruling:
“While we respect the judicial process, this ruling ignores the real and lasting harm that such an agreement will have on immigrant, Black, Brown, and other marginalized communities across Bucks County. By focusing narrowly on legal standing, the court overlooked the broader constitutional and community impact of empowering local law enforcement to act as immigration agents.”
NAACP Bucks County President Adrienne King said this will not deter her organization from continuing its work of standing in solidarity with immigrants in the community and working with coalition partners to oppose and hopefully overturn this dangerous ICE partnership.
“We will keep fighting — until every Bucks County resident can live free from fear and discrimination,” said King.
Harran signed up for the agreement, which was approved by ICE in May, without the approval of Bucks County Commissioners, which the ACLU argued in its lawsuit violated Pennsylvania state law and the state constitution. The ACLU was asking for an injunction to stop the ICE partnership from moving forward.
In his ruling, Trauger disagreed. He wrote, ”Pennsylvania law makes clear that the Commissioners’ powers and duties do not come at the expense of the powers and duties of other county officers.” Trauger added that the sheriff’s agreement with ICE is “clearly lawful under Pennsylvania jurisprudence and is reasonable and necessary in fulfilling his lawful duty to keep … citizens of Bucks County safe.”
We are deeply disappointed in Judge Trauger’s decision to let Sheriff Harran proceed with his partnership with ICE without guardrails, and view it as a profound failure to protect both the immigrants and taxpayers of Bucks County.” – Indivisible Bucks County’s Laura Rose.
The ACLU plans to appeal.
“This fight is far from over,” said Stephen Loney, senior supervising attorney at the ACLU of Pennsylvania. “It’s unfortunate that the judge in this case failed to appreciate what the law clearly states; the sheriff does not have authority to sign onto a 287(g) agreement with ICE. We will appeal this decision and, in the meantime, we will continue to work to hold Sheriff Harran accountable to the rule of law.”
In a Miami Herald explainer of ICE’s “task force model,” the newspaper notes it “allows officers to challenge people on the street about their immigration status — and possibly arrest them … [and] state and local officers are trained and deputized by ICE so they can question, detain and arrest individuals they suspect of violating civil immigration laws while officers are out policing the communities they are sworn to protect.”
Harran has argued that his deputies won’t engage in the full powers the “task force model” program grants them.
“I’m only interested in making the county safer and I’m only interested in dealing with those folks that are in this country illegally that have committed crimes,” Harran told The Philadelphia Inquirer. “I am not the immigration police, I am not immigration customs enforcement.”
Harran and his deputies each signed a “Designated Immigration Officer” document that describes duties approved by Harran – who only signed off on three of eight. Among the approved duties for the “trained” deputies, however, is “(1) power and authority to question any person believed to be an alien as to their right to be or remain in the United States and to arrest if determined to be a removable alien.”
The other two are:
“(2) the power and authority to administer oaths, take and consider evidence, complete criminal alien processing, and prepare affidavits and sworn statements; and (3) the power and authority to detain and transport arrested persons to ICE approved detention facilities.”
Harran rejected:
“(1) use of firearms or other approved weapons; (2) arrest without warrant for felonies which may have been Committed; (3) serve warrants for immigration violations pursuant to 8 C.F.R. 287 5(3)(3); 4) preparation of charging documents; and (5) issuance of immigration detainers.”
“We are deeply disappointed in Judge Trauger’s decision to let Sheriff Harran proceed with his partnership with ICE without guardrails, and view it as a profound failure to protect both the immigrants and taxpayers of Bucks County,” said Indivisible Bucks County’s Laura Rose.
Pennsylvania has the third most ICE 287(g) agreements in the country, with 39. It trails Florida and Texas, who have 326 and 185 respectively.
