In the near future, the East Hampton Town Board is expected to make it clear that town personnel, including police, will not aid federal agents in immigration enforcement.
The board plans a May 7 public hearing on a draft law based on one put forth this winter by Minerva Perez, the executive director of Organizacion Latino Americana, and since discussed by municipalities across the East End.
“Police power is left to the local government,” said Jake Turner, the town attorney. “So, what we’re talking about is what our local Police Department can do and what our local government can do.”
The proposed law states that the town’s Police Department cannot agree to any 287(g) pacts, which are detainer agreements between local law enforcement and the federal government that may deputize officers to act on behalf of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Fred W. Thiele Jr., an OLA board member who was a New York State assemblyman for nearly 30 years (a “recovering politician,” he called himself), told the board last week that he was happy with the draft law. (Ms. Perez was out of the country on vacation.)
“It’s not easy for a former politician to say this, but the draft that you have before you that’s been crafted by your town attorney has just gotten better, and is an improvement over some of the original drafts that we [OLA] came up with,” he said. “We think that this is a great step forward in the Town of East Hampton, and we thank the town board for considering it.”
A similar law is being negotiated by the State Legislature, Mr. Thiele noted, but is not in conflict with the town’s.
The proposed law would also create a task force, appointed by the town board, which would provide the board with guidance and recommendations regarding immigration enforcement. The legislation compels the board to respond to the task force within 30 days. Its members will be named only if the law is adopted, though Mr. Turner gave an idea of what its makeup would look like.
It will have 12 voting members, including someone from a school district within the town, a member of the local clergy, two representatives from the medical field, a nonprofit, a volunteer from a local food pantry, an attorney with immigration law experience, someone who works in social services, a Latino youth advocate, and a Latino business owner. In addition, it will include a member of the town’s police force, a representative from the supervisor’s office, a town attorney, and someone from the town’s Human Services Department.
In addition to its other provisions, the law addresses concerns about unidentified and masked ICE agents, who have been the face, or lack of it, of the federal government’s immigration enforcement. The legislation will also allow town police to request identification from anyone in town purporting to be an immigration officer.
And if there is immigration enforcement, the new code establishes reporting procedures. The town police would be required to notify the supervisor of any activity, and the supervisor would then inform the board, which would then pass the information on to the task force.
The board was unanimously supportive of the proposed legislation. Councilwoman Cate Rogers highlighted a section that would ban the use of town resources for federal civil immigration enforcement without a judicial warrant.
“I know folks may question whether we can do that,” she said, “but I believe the Constitution supports this section of the law.”
She said she appreciates that the proposed law clarifies the ways in which governmental authority is applied across its branches and local municipalities. “It’s emotional to talk about this when you see how people are impacted, how they’re hiding, how they’re besieged by cruelty and inhumanity and how contrary to our Constitution any of this activity is,” Ms. Rogers concluded.
“I look forward to taking this to a public hearing,” Councilman David Lys said, stressing the fact that the legislation does not ask police to do anything they’re not already capable of doing. Simply asking them to make ICE agents identify themselves could prevent “fake law action” present in other states, where, he said, “deputized militias” are enforcing the law.
“It’s very easy for us to ask someone for identification,” Mr. Lys said.
“You can’t even get a beach pass without showing identity, let alone arresting someone and taking them away,” said Ms. Rogers.
Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez said she would like the Latino Advisory Committee to comment on the draft when it meets on Saturday, at 8 a.m., before moving it to a public hearing. Two members of that committee, Alyson Follenius and Susan Retzky, spoke during the public portion of Tuesday’s meeting to applaud the board for moving the legislation forward.
