WHATELY — The town’s Selectboard doesn’t think Whately police department should assist federal immigration officers if asked to do so.
Discussion of the department’s role in federal immigration law enforcement arose at Monday’s board meeting, prompted by concerns from local resident Edward Berman. No formal action or vote was taken.
“I’m asking the town to protect any so-called illegals who might be detained by immigration services,” Berman said, presenting his case to the three-member board. “If they ring up the police chief and ask if they can put (illegal immigrants) in a cell for a few days, what’s going to happen?”
Responding to those concerns, Selectman Paul Newlin said “(Immigration and Customs Enforcement) should do their work, our police should do their work, and we should keep it that way. We should not involve ourselves in matters of immigration enforcement operations. That is to say, instruct our police officers not to intervene in immigration enforcement — that’s not our purview. They should be protected as any other one of our citizens.”
Whately Police Chief James A. Sevigne Jr. noted the department doesn’t have a written immigration policy.
Affirming Newlin’s thoughts, fellow Selectman Jonathan Edwards said, “The Whately Police Department has plenty to do on their own. With the relatively large number of immigrant migrant workers (in Whately), my hope is they feel safe enough to come in to work. It’s not only an ethical and a legal situation, it’s also an economic one: we’re depending on farm workers.”
Logistically, Sevigne said, “We don’t have the staff, we don’t have the facility — if immigration comes in and says ‘you need to detain these 15 people,’ we don’t have the resources.” As to personal opinions on the issue, he added, “I’m going to reserve any comments until we have more information.”
As a caveat to nonintervention, Newlin said, “The Police Department should respond if there’s a threat of public safety to Whately residents.”
Looking ahead, Edwards requested of the police department, “If you get any communication from federal authorities, have them come and meet with us here in our cubical here.”
The board’s third Selectman Fred Orloski didn’t voice a strong opinion either way.
If residents want the town to take formal action through a vote at upcoming town meeting, Newlin said to submit a warrant article request. At least 10 signatures from eligible town residents are needed for an article to be added.
Later, after presenting, Berman said it “may be better to let sleeping dogs lie,” and said he wasn’t sure if he was going to submit a warrant request or not.
“We really just wanted to see if the Selectboard had even thought about the issue,” he said. Berman’s wife, Julia Berman, an immigrant from England, added, “We just want to make sure people are protected.”
You can reach Andy Castillo
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