Bucks County Sheriff Terminates Partnership With ICE
by Alex Lloyd Gross
Bucks County Sheriff Dan Ceisler has terminated his agency’s relationship with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, effective today. There are some misconceptions about what this means, and during a press conference today, Ceisler addressed several of them.
The Bucks County Prison will continue to provide ICE agents full access to deport criminals who have been arrested and are in the country illegally. However, sheriff’s deputies will no longer ask about the immigration status of victims, witnesses, or court observers.
“I also want to be clear about what my order today does not mean. Bucks County is not, has never been, and will never be a so-called ‘sanctuary county.’ Our county has not severed all ties with ICE nor precluded future partnership with ICE when it comes to dangerous criminals. Instead, we are returning to the level of partnership we had been operating under for decades, under both Republican and Democratic administrations.
“We will not be sending our deputies into the community to perform immigration enforcement. However, our Department of Corrections will continue to share information with hundreds of law enforcement agencies, including ICE. We will ensure that actual criminals—people involved in human trafficking, fentanyl distribution, child exploitation, violent crime, and fraud—who are in the country illegally are deported, which has been standard practice in Bucks County for decades,” Ceisler said.
Previously, the Sheriff’s Department used a 287(g) agreement to partner with ICE. Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Naturalization Act permits local law enforcement agencies to volunteer to perform immigration enforcement functions, serving as a force multiplier for ICE. The 287(g) program dates back to the Clinton administration but became far more widely used during both Trump administrations, particularly the second, according to Ceisler.
Alex Lloyd Gross File Photo Delaware Valley News.com Bucks County Sheriff Dan Ceisler.
Ceisler said ICE agents have frequently targeted law-abiding immigrants in apartment communities in Bucks County who have done nothing wrong. These individuals were often detained while going about their daily lives, unaware they were under surveillance by ICE or the Sheriff’s Department. Under the new policy, the Sheriff’s Office will no longer participate in those types of deportations.