By Dan Murphy
Westchester County Executive George Latimer responded to a recent Immigration, Customs and Enforcement press release on a number of illegal/undocumented residents arrested across the country and then being released before ICE could detail them for deportation by stating “Westchester is not a sanctuary” for those non-citizens charged with a crime.
Two weeks ago, we ran a story titled “ “Debate Over Non-Cooperation with ICE Continues,” in which we reviewed a recent arrest in Mt. Kisco for third-degree rape. That person, Joaquin Rodriguez Quiroz, was arrested, held in county jail for one night, and then released after he posted bail.
ICE sought to detain that person for deportation but could not do so, and blamed Westchester County for its lack of cooperation. Latimer responded with the other side of the argument about ICE and its efforts to detain and deport illegal residents convicted of crimes in Westchester.
“When a person is incarcerated in prison, a judge has issued an order that sends that person to the county jail,” said Latimer. “But if the judge sets bail and that person posts bail, he is free to leave the county jail and we will not detain him for ICE. That judge, and the assistant district attorney handling that case, have both determined that this individual is not a threat to the community at large and can be released.”
Latimer makes a good point, which we underscore here for our readers. It is up to a local village, town or County Court judge to review the criminal charges made against an individual who is not a legal resident, and determine if bail is warranted. The assistant district attorney then will make a recommendation to the judge on bail. Both of those actions are automatically taken before ICE gets involved, or before our elected officials get involved in their dispute with ICE and the Trump administration over illegal immigrants and the larger issue of immigration in our country.
In 2018, Westchester County passed the Immigrant Protection Act, which prevents Westchester County from using any of its resources to assist in federal investigations based on race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity or national origin.
Latimer said the IPA is not a determining factor in whether a person arrested posts bond and is released from jail.
The other fact that Latimer raised in our conversation, which we have heard before, is that what the IPA does require is that if ICE wants to detain an undocumented resident from the county jail, they must have a warrant, or judicial order, signed by a federal judge to do so.
“We have said clearly that if ICE has a judicial warrant by a judge that says turn this person over to them we will cooperate,” said Latimer. “That means the IPA that was passed is not a sanctuary law. A sanctuary law would mean we would not turn over that person even if ICE had an order. If a judge signs an order, we turn them over immediately. There is a misrepresentation out there about this. We are not providing sanctuary, nor are we a sanctuary county.
“When ICE puts out a press release about a person accused of a crime, what they don’t say is that we only release a person if a local judge and ADA says so through bail, or if a federal judge signs an order. This is the second time ICE has claimed we are not cooperating, and it’s because of politics. If someone were that dangerous to the community, they wouldn’t be getting any bail at all.”
ICE, nor anyone in federal law enforcement, has been able to answer the question as to why they have not sought many more federal judicial orders to detain and deport illegal residents who have committed crimes. “Out of the 90 times that this administration has asked to detain someone, only once have they come back with an order,” said Latimer. “If they are such a bad hombre, why doesn’t ICE ask for an order?”
Latimer, and many in Westchester, believe that ICE and the Trump administration want to create an environment of fear in the immigrant and Latino community. “ICE doesn’t want anyone to know when they are coming or where they are going to,” said the county executive. “They want to strike fear in the immigrant community and say to them, ‘You are not a citizen and you have no rights.’ The problem with that is, now, the immigrant community is clamming up and not talking to police. They are afraid to report crimes and go to court to testify, making it harder for law enforcement to do their jobs.”
One final point that Latimer raised, which deserves an answer from ICE – or anyone in the law enforcement community – is how much easier it would be for ICE to get a warrant for several individuals at one time and detain them at one time.
“Let’s say there are five individuals that ICE is looking for, and they are all in the county jail,” said Latimer. “If ICE went to a judge and got the order, they could pick them all up at once. Once they know they are in jail, they don’t have to go all over Westchester to look for them. Why not get the orders and finish their job? None of this would be an issue if they did that.”
Many immigrants’ rights groups believe that ICE, and the Trump administration, doesn’t want to do it that way – to get an order and pick up the illegal immigrant charged with a crime. We look forward to speaking with someone in law enforcement, or on the other side of this issue.
One of the reasons we wrote the story on ICE three weeks ago was because of the dissatisfaction we have when we see two parts of our law enforcement community not getting along and cooperating, and why?
Latimer’s answer to that question is clear: Don’t point the finger of blame at Westchester. Westchester is not a sanctuary.
