New Bucks County, Pennsylvania sheriff Danny Ceisler terminates agreement with ICE after contentious election
Bucks County's newly sworn-in sheriff is terminating his predecessor's agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and making other changes to his office's policies on immigration.
Democratic Sheriff Danny Ceisler, who took office last week, announced Wednesday that he is immediately terminating the Bucks County Sheriff's Office's 287(g) agreement with ICE. Under the county's "task force model" agreement, struck under former Sheriff Fred Harran, the department's 16 officers were given authority to carry out immigration enforcement duties during routine policing, such as during a traffic stop.
Ceisler pledged during a contentious election campaign that he would end the 287(g) agreement immediately. Harran was also sued by the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups last spring over the agreement. The groups said the Republican former Sheriff entered into the agreement without authorization from the Bucks County Commissioners, and the commissioners later voted to disavow the agreement.
In remarks on Wednesday, Ceisler argued the agreement was making Bucks County residents less safe, discouraging immigrant communities from reporting crime out of fear of deportation or detention. That fear puts others at risk, he said.
"When large numbers of our residents are afraid to call 911, or afraid to come to court and testify, that makes our entire community less safe. This is not a public safety problem for immigrants; this is a public safety problem for everyone," Ceisler said.
Ceisler said the partnership ending will not stop Bucks County from pursuing violent criminals who have received due process. But the sheriff's office will not target people living and working in the community.
Ceisler has also signed an order prohibiting sheriff's officers from asking residents about their immigration status.
The decision comes as ICE and local law enforcement's role in immigration enforcement is top of mind for many across the country. One week ago — the same day Ceisler took office — an ICE agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, an American citizen, after a traffic stop in Minneapolis.
"ICE is not trained to be doing law enforcement out in the streets," Ceisler said, when asked about the shooting after his swearing-in ceremony. "When you put people who aren't trained and equipped to do that job, that's when mistakes happen, and people get hurt."
The Justice Department has since declined to open a civil rights investigation into the shooting of Good, a decision that was widely criticized and led to the resignations of several federal prosecutors in Minnesota and in the civil rights division.