Legal battle looms as Bucks commissioners reject sheriff’s alliance with ICE

The Bucks County commissioners insisted Wednesday that they, not the sheriff, hold sole power to contract with ICE, warning county employees that they could be personally liable for helping enforce federal immigration laws.

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

A legal fight is brewing over a matter that has provoked high tension in Bucks County, with Sheriff Fred Harran agreeing to have local deputies perform immigration-related duties for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement under a program known as “287(g).”

Hundreds of law enforcement agencies around the country have joined the program, named for a section of a 1996 immigration law.

Now the Pennsylvania ACLU has threatened to sue, the sheriff has obtained outside legal representation, and the lone Republican commissioner, Gene DiGirolamo, said the matter seemed certain to end up before a judge.

Harran, who attended Wednesday’s meeting, said pending litigation forced him to decline to comment on the resolution. “The commissioners finally found a way to keep me quiet,” he quipped.

The sheriff referred questions to attorney Wally Zimolong, whose website describes him as “the ‘go-to’ lawyer in Pennsylvania for conservative causes.”

Zimolong on Wednesday called the commissioners’ resolution “legally baseless.”

“This is a matter of federal law, not state law, and under federal law the Bucks County sheriff’s office is a political subdivision. As such, Sheriff Harran had full authority under federal law to execute the 287(g) agreement with ICE.”

Any legal challenge will only affirm the legitimacy of Harran’s actions, the Wayne-based attorney said.

Harran, a Republican seeking reelection, has consistently clashed with the Democratic-controlled board of commissioners in recent months. Bucks was the only county in the Philadelphia region where the majority voted for President Donald Trump last year.

Harran is proceeding with his plans. He insists that the department’s alliance with ICE would not be used “for immigration sweeps, random checks, or broad enforcement,” but that “those who commit crimes must face the consequences regardless of immigration status.”

His assertion that the partnership would make county residents safer has been loudly disputed, most recently on Wednesday, by some residents who have spoken in opposition.

Now the ACLU has threatened to take legal action to stop the ICE alliance, and warned in a letter to the sheriff that “Bucks County taxpayers will be on the hook for litigation costs and any liability.”

The civil rights group said that the sheriff’s department has no authority under Pennsylvania law to unilaterally enter into an agreement with ICE, and that only the commissioners can do so. The ACLU asked Harran to advise ICE that absent commissioners’ approval, “your application is legally null and void.”

The resolution sets out the commissioners’ reasoning, research, and intentions, but is not binding on anyone. It may, however, serve to make the county government less of a target should the ACLU or others file suit, showing that the majority of the board had opposed the plan.

DiGirolamo spoke in defense of Harran, saying that they have known each other for decades and that the sheriff seeks always to make the community safer.

“When it comes to public safety and law enforcement, I could go on and on about Fred,” DiGirolamo said.

A loud voice shouted from the audience: “You’re full of s—!”

The resolution noted that ICE is under no obligation to pay for legal defense should the county be sued over immigration actions taken by deputies.

It specifically warned that any actions taken by the sheriff, his deputies, or other county employees under 287(g) have not been approved. County employees who act under 287(g) do so as individuals, the resolution said, 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.

The resolution additionally warned that employees performing “unauthorized work” for ICE could have to reimburse the county.

“Only the commissioners have the authority to enter into an agreement,” board Chairman Bob Harvie Jr. said after the meeting. “He has signed an agreement himself. ICE has accepted that agreement. … We’re trying to make it clear this is not an authorized county function he’s performing.”

Most of those who addressed the commissioners Wednesday were opposed to the collaboration with ICE, though those in favor were present, too.

Edward Mackhouse ripped Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, told the commissioners that Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vaccine skeptic, was working to make people healthier, and insisted that Trump’s immigration policies were getting rid of criminals and murderers.

“President Trump is the best and greatest president for America,” he said, drawing boos and laughter.

“Get help,” someone shouted at him.

Sharon Furlong of Lower Southampton Township said she worried that an ICE collaboration would put more pressure and strain on already overburdened police officers, while others questioned the potential costs of legal liability from helping the federal agency.

Earlier this month, Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia said she supported both law enforcement agencies, but: “We want ICE to do ICE and sheriff to do sheriff.”

The sheriff’s department would be the first in the Philadelphia region to collaborate with ICE. It would do so as Trump seeks to carry out what he claims will be the largest deportation effort in American history, one in which he has called on state and local law enforcement agencies for help.

As of this week, ICE has signed 588 agreements with police in 40 states. Agency officials could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday.