ACLU sues to stop Bucks County sheriff from helping ICE enforce federal immigration laws

The ACLU of Pennsylvania and several advocacy groups have sued Bucks County Sheriff Fred Harran to try to stop him from helping ICE enforce federal immigration laws.

They say he’s illegally seeking to have deputies serve as immigration agents, and asked the court to issue an injunction to block him from going forward.

“If the sheriff truly cared about public safety, he would be working to strengthen our communities, not terrorizing them,” said Karen Rodriguez, a member of plaintiff organization Make the Road Pennsylvania, which works for immigrant rights.

Efforts to reach Harran and a department spokesperson were unsuccessful on Saturday.

The lawsuit, filed Friday, says Harran entered into the agreement without authorization from the Board of Commissioners, the county’s government body, who have disavowed the sheriff’s actions. More, the suit says, the agreement would siphon county resources to serve ICE while eroding trust between police and immigrant communities.

Harran has defended the alliance, insisting it would make county residents safer. He says it will not be used for broad enforcement or random checks — points disputed by immigration activists — but “those who commit crimes must face the consequences regardless of immigration status.”

His department would be the first in the Philadelphia region to collaborate with ICE under a controversial initiative known as “287(g), named for a section of a 1996 immigration law. ICE and the sheriff have formally agreed upon the partnership.

As of Saturday, 649 police agencies in 40 states had signed such agreements. Others have declined on legal and policy grounds, saying police need undocumented people to come forward as victims and witnesses to help get criminals off the streets.

Harran describes his department’s involvement as a “narrowly defined initiative focused on public safety,” one in which 12 of the department’s 76 deputies would be trained to access a federal database, identifying people taken into custody on criminal charges and who have outstanding warrants in Bucks County.

Immigration activists say that’s untrue, that the program would allow sheriff’s deputies to ask anyone about their legal status and to serve warrants for immigration violations, turning local officers into de facto ICE agents.

Harran’s agreement with ICE has provoked wide dispute in Bucks County, prompting dozens of people to speak in favor and against at public meetings. Some say local taxpayers should not be paying deputies to perform federal functions, while others said those in the country without permission must be identified and kicked out.

Asked about the controversy in Bucks, an ICE spokesperson said last month the 287(g) program “helps promote public safety” by deporting undocumented residents involved in serious crimes.

“The 287(g) Program is a force multiplier,” an ICE spokesperson said. “That expanded ability helps keep our streets safer for our families, friends, and loved ones.”

The dispute in Bucks comes as the Trump administration embarks on an effort to deport millions of people. Gaining the assistance of state and local police agencies, voluntarily or otherwise, is crucial to that because of the scale of the operation.

ICE employs about 21,000 people nationwide, cast against an undocumented population estimated at 13 million. The Trump administration recently released a list of hundreds of so-called sanctuary jurisdictions that it says must enforce immigration laws or lose federal funding.

A spokesperson for the county Board of Commissioners could not be reached on Saturday.

But the Democrat-led commissioners have insisted that they, not the Republican sheriff, hold sole power to contract on behalf of the county, and warned county employees that they could be personally liable for helping enforce federal immigration laws.

Last month the commissioners voted 2-1, with the lone Republican opposed, to approve a resolution asserting their authority and declaring that an agreement with ICE “is not an appropriate use of Bucks County taxpayer resources.”

The commissioners were not named in the lawsuit, filed in Bucks County Common Pleas Court. Other plaintiffs include NAACP Bucks County, the BuxMont Unitarian Universalists — and a Bucks County voter, resident, and taxpayer, Juan Navia, who, the suit says, has an interest in the proper use of county tax dollars.

Harran, the suit said, is responsible under Pennsylvania law for duties that include serving criminal warrants and civil processes, transporting criminal defendants for court appearances, administering property sales, issuing firearms licenses, and more.

As of January, the Sheriff’s Department had 6,626 outstanding warrants to serve, the suit said. Adding immigration enforcement to department duties — at local taxpayer expense — would further limit the office’s ability to serve warrants and conduct other work, it said.

“Local law enforcement is not equipped to operate as immigration agents and often make serious mistakes that can put the lives and livelihoods of those they target in serious jeopardy,” said Stephen Loney, senior supervising attorney at the ACLU of Pennsylvania.

The ACLU says 287(g) agreements have proven to be pathways to racial profiling, poor jail conditions, and civil rights violations that expose taxpayers to legal liability.

Bucks was the only county in the Philadelphia region where the majority voted for President Donald Trump last year.

The commissioners’ resolution noted that ICE is under no obligation to pay for legal defense should the county be sued over immigration actions taken by deputies. The commissioners specifically warned that any actions taken by the sheriff, his deputies, or other county employees under 287(g) have not been approved. And that county employees who act under 287(g) do so as individuals, and may lose the qualified immunity that normally protects employees who act in an official capacity.

For police officers, for instance, that immunity generally shields them from liability for their official actions.

“Nobody is above the law,” said Witold Walczak, legal director at the ACLU of Pennsylvania, as the suit was filed. “Sheriff Harran is no exception.”

Staff writer Katie Bernard contributed to this article.