By Dan Murphy
Councilwoman Corazon Pineda-Isaac, who represents the 2nd council district of Southwest Yonkers and which includes a large Hispanic population, recently posted on Facebook last week about the upcoming threat of ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, agents in Yonkers. President Donald Trump has been threatening ICE raids across the country for more than one month.
“US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have been recently spotted on New Main Street in Yonkers. I communicated with the 3rd police precinct, was told that the Yonkers Police Department did not cooperate or assist with ICE agents and their current sweeps. Please take a minute to learn what to do if an ICE agent comes to your home or approaches you in public. Know your rights,” said Pineda-Isaac.
Since the date of the raids last weekend, there have been no reports of any ICE arrests in Yonkers, nor in Westchester County. A video surfaced, which was seen and shared from the YonkersVoice.com, which shows law enforcement officers entering Orzo Bakery in Yonkers.
There is mixed opinion on whether the officers were ICE agents, or other Federal law enforcement, or Yonkers Law enforcement. Ben xx from the Yonkers Voice, who has great knowledge and experience covering the Yonkers Police and Fire Department said that the video was not of Yonkers Police.
YPD Det. Sgt. Dean Politopoulos said, “There were confi rmed reports of ICE agents in Yonkers last weekend, but that is all I know.” Politopoulos also confirmed that the video of law enforcement with police vests at the Orzo Bakery “were not Yonkers police officers.”
In March of 2018, County Executive George Latimer signed the Westchester County Immigration Protection Act (IPA) into law. The Westchester County Board of Legislators held many public hearings on the IPA and listened to input from advocates, law enforcement officials, attorneys and other stakeholders, before delivering it to the County Executive for signature after passage by the County Board of Legislators.
The IPA allows ICE to engage in legitimate immigration-related activities while at the same time protecting the rights of individuals. It was intended to instill trust in the police, so that undocumented people and their families can seek help when faced with serious situations and threats to their safety, without the fear of being subject to deportation. The Westchester Immigrant Protection Act does not make Westchester a sanctuary county. Persons charged with criminal offenses remain subject to criminal laws and the criminal justice system.
An ICE Detainer is a request that ICE sends to a local government which, in most circumstances, asks the government to keep an individual in its custody (such as at a police station or in a county jail) until ICE can take custody of that person, but doesn’t satisfy the same legal criteria as an ‘Arrest Warrant,’ which can only be issued by a judge based upon probable cause.
If an individual is in custody and if he or she satisfies the terms of his or her discharge (such as by posting bail or serving his or her sentence), the government can no longer restrict that person’s freedom unless a judge directs it to do so.
Recently, the New York State court system issued rules that prohibit ICE from arresting people in state and local courthouses unless they have an Arrest Warrant. In doing so, our local government hopes to ensure that noncitizens can attend court appearances and receive other important services. Some examples include crime victims (who may need to testify in court), tenants who may be involved in eviction proceedings and people seeking protection from domestic abusers.
Like any other criminal justice agency, ICE can seek an order (or an arrest warrant) from a federal judge or magistrate that, once signed, allows ICE to take custody of the person or directs the local government to detain the person.
