Lehigh County
’s top elected government and law enforcement officials plan to meet next week to discuss protesters’ demands that federal immigration agents should be barred from arresting individuals inside the county courthouse.
A state court official said
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
agents have as much right to be in the courthouse as private citizens, but the protesters maintain ICE’s activities are inappropriate.
The protesters say individuals are being detained immediately after attending court matters unrelated to their immigration status at the Allentown facility. They fear aggressive ICE enforcement will discourage people from showing up to court.
Several of them
spoke at a county commissioners’ meeting Wednesday
, July 9. They have the support of Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk, who wrote a letter to Lehigh County President Judge J. Brian Johnson asking him to ban ICE agents from using courthouse facilities.
“Access to justice is a cornerstone of our democracy. When people are too afraid to enter the courthouse, they are effectively denied that right,” Tuerk wrote on July 10.
A spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania state court system said Thursday, July 17, the ICE agents have the same right as any private individual to conduct business in the public spaces in the courthouse.
“At present, there is no legal basis to prohibit law enforcement from this basic operational principle,” Stacey Witalec said in an email. She’s the spokeswoman for the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts.
Witalec said Johnson is on medical leave, and she could not provide a response from the judge to Tuerk’s letter.
Locals citizens are concerned about ICE agents using private areas of the courthouse, including underground tunnels connecting to the prison and non-public entrances. And regardless of Witalec’s statement, they feel it’s inappropriate for ICE agents to nab people anywhere in the courthouse.
“Immigrants are being kidnapped and torn apart from their families in our community. We will protect our neighbors in the absence of protection from the state and other governing bodies,” said attorney Elliott Love, speaking on behalf of the Lehigh Valley Emergency Response Network, a group that provides relief, advice and support for area immigrants.
A spokesman with the Philadelphia office of ICE didn’t respond to an email seeking comment. ICE spokesman Jason Koontz
told lehighvalleynews.com
that ICE agents act in this area in accordance with federal law and departmental policy.
Lehigh County commissioners’ Chairman Geoff Brace said officials have scheduled a meeting to discuss how to proceed.
“I will be meeting with the president judge, district attorney and sheriff next week on the first date we are all available to discuss this matter,” he said Tuesday, July 15.
Rapid Response Hotline set up
Lehigh County Commissioner Jon Irons is among those leading the charge for immigrants’ rights. He’s part of a coalition of clergy, civic leaders and community organizers who formed the emergency response network to help those targeted in ICE raids.
He agreed with attorney Love that ICE shouldn’t operate in the courthouse.
“The way ICE is operating is undermining due process at almost every level,” Irons said.
He said ICE detainees are often confused, scared and unable to defend themselves. The network of local volunteers offers support, legal advice, resources and friendship to immigrants who need it, Irons said.
“We’ve managed to organize and educate and then finally now mobilize concerned citizens to do their part and find ways to support the immigrant community,” Irons said.
The network of some 200 volunteers protests, provides support and operates a Rapid Response Hotline. Immigrants can call 610-850-9930 any time to report an ICE detention or seek aid. A few people have called the hotline since it launched Monday, July 14, Irons said.
Irons said volunteers are trained to respond to defend detainees’ rights.
Protesters’ rights per the DA
The protesters have a right to express their opinions and seek policy changes as long as they don’t interfere with ICE agents doing their jobs, Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin Holihan said.
He said there are misconceptions about what protesters can demand of ICE. For instance, protesters can’t demand to see a judicial warrant when an ICE agent detains an immigrant. ICE gets its authority from administrative warrants, not from local judges. So protesters shouldn’t try to block an arrest regardless of whether an agent has a warrant.
“When people hear those things and if they try to act in accordance with those statements, they’re just going to get themselves in trouble,” Holihan said.
Protesters are concerned about immigrants being bullied by ICE agents. Holihan said he’s not aware of any such instances. He’s concerned a group of protesters showing up at an arrest could escalate the likelihood of violence, although the protesters say they are trained to de-escalate violence when they see it.
Koontz, the ICE spokesman, warned that groups “who interfere or impede lawful ICE enforcement operations will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” according to
lehighvalleynews.com
.
It’s unclear how many ICE detentions have taken place in the Lehigh County Courthouse. Irons was familiar with at least one — the detention of a 27-year-old Freedom High School graduate who came to the U.S. 20 years ago from El Salvador.
17 detained at fire restoration
A large-scale ICE operation in June led to the
detention of 17 immigrants
working to restore the Five 10 Flats apartment building in Bethlehem after a roof fire.
Those arrests added fuel to the fire of protesters who say ICE is getting too aggressive.
Those workers at Five 10 Flats were trying to help rebuild the community, Irons said. They weren’t making trouble and it’s unclear why they were suddenly targeted and detained, he said.
Irons believes many immigrants come to the courthouse to participate in diversionary programs to settle minor criminal charges. If they know ICE is waiting for them, they’ll stop participating in the programs and in some cases stop receiving treatment they need, Irons said.
The volunteers want to make the Lehigh Valley an inclusive, diverse community. ICE is working against that goal, Irons said.
Attorney Ettore “Ed” Angelo calls on the county commissioners to block ICE, even if it means the county gets sued.
“A court can then decide whether we want these jackboot actions occurring smack in the middle of our sacred halls of justice,” Angelo said.
ICE might have the backing of President Donald Trump, but the volunteers say they’ll do what they can to push back.
“It’s been really inspiring to see everyone together, to see volunteers from all across the valley in different walks of life, people who speak Spanish, people who are immigrants, and people who’ve never thought about this issue at all before coming and working together,” Irons said. “That, to me, is the story of what’s happening.”
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