Atlantic County to hold undocumented immigrants for feds

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Posted: Thursday, August 6, 2015 12:11 pm
MICHELLE BRUNETTI POST

Criminal suspects who make bail but are identified by the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement as being in the U.S. illegally and having criminal records will again be held in the Atlantic County jail until picked up by ICE.

The county had stopped holding suspects for ICE after a 2014 Pennsylvania case in which Lehigh County was held liable and had to pay about $100,000 to a man held for three days on ICE’s request, but who turned out to be a U.S. citizen, said County Counsel James Ferguson.

In the Pennsylvania case, Galarza v. Szalczyk, shoddy investigative work by ICE and by local police were to blame, said Ferguson, who negotiated new protocols for holding suspects.

The new policy was spurred by the recent shooting death of Kate Steinle, 32, allegedly by an undocumented immigrant and Mexican national with a long criminal history, said County Executive Dennis Levinson.

“After the San Francisco tragedy I asked County Counsel James Ferguson and members of the County Law Department to meet with ICE officers to develop protocols for cooperation and assistance, while also ensuring liability protection for county government,” said Levinson.

The suspect in Steinle’s killing had been deported five times, was jailed four months prior to the shooting on drug charges and should have been sent to federal immigration officials instead of being set free, according to ICE.

Ferguson said ICE has improved its techniques for identifying people, using biometrics like fingerprints as well as names, which can be common. And ICE has assured the county anyone it wants detained will be picked up within 48 hours, he said.

“Because of the procedures we were able to work out with them, we feel reasonably assured there will be a probable cause basis for holding anyone for whom they send a detainer,” Ferguson said. “It helps us make certain that we are protecting the community by keeping people off the streets who shouldn’t be released.”

He said the focus is on people who have committed serious crimes or been arrested or suspected of serious criminal activity. ICE would not request a detainer on someone suspected of being here illegally if he or she simply has a lot of parking tickets or other smaller issues, Ferguson said.

Levinson said ICE determines who should be held, not the county.

“I want to make sure this is clearly stated, because if we let that illegal person go because he doesn’t meet ICE criteria, suppose that person commits a crime — a heinous crime. If he is here illegally the question is going to come up, ‘Hey, Atlantic County ... you had the person and knew they were here illegally, why didn’t you retain them?’ Because they don’t meet protocols ICE set down,” Levinson said.

“We don’t necessarily agree with ICE, but there is not a whole lot we can do about it,” Levinson said. “At least we can define it.”

Ferguson said the county has no legal basis to arrest people solely because of immigration status.

“In the first instance, the county does not enforce immigration law. We simply assist,” Ferguson said. “We hold people, we don’t actively go onto the street and look for illegals. We don’t have jurisdiciton to do that — it rests with federal authorities.”

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