Two immigration protection bills from State Rep. Mara Gorman (D-Newark) head to the Delaware House for a full vote.
Just over a week ago, the House Judiciary Committee approved a bill from State Rep. Sean Lynn (D-Dover) that would keep Delaware law enforcement from working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents without approval from the state’s attorney general.
Following the bill’s release, the Attorney General’s Office told Delaware Public Media it actually prefers a bill from Rep. Gorman that would prohibit those partnerships entirely without the need for attorney general authorization.
In addition to support from the Department of Justice, Gorman’s bill also received unprecedented praise from the Delaware Association of Chiefs of Police and the Delaware State Police (DSP) on legislation of this nature.
“DSP is willing to back up what it has said numerous times in front of this committee. We are not in the federal civil immigration business. Today's bill will cement that fact," Delaware State Police Legislative Liaison Sgt. Mike Ripple said during the bill's committee hearing.
Residing in the U.S. without proper documentation is considered a civil immigration violation.
Sgt. Ripple also testified at Rep. Lynn's House Bill 94 hearing, reiterating that DSP has never intended to be an arm for ICE’s deportation efforts, but he worries language within Rep. Lynn's bill could prohibit local police from working with federal agents on other matters, like human trafficking.
Sgt. Ripple has also raised concerns over Rep. Lynn's House Bill 58, which would make it illegal to stop, question or arrest any individual solely based on actual or suspected immigration status. It would also prohibit a law enforcement officer from asking about an individual's immigration status or to arrest an individual based on civil immigration warrants or immigration detainers.
Sgt. Ripple believes the bill could be a violation of Article 36 of the Vienna Treaty, which mandates that a country who detains a foreign national must inform their nation’s consulate office of their arrest, which Sgt. Ripple says requires officers to ask a detainee their citizenship status.
But all of these concerns appear squashed in Sgt. Ripple's eyes if the state legislature moves forward with Rep. Gorman's bill, rather than Rep. Lynn's bills.
He says it tackles the lawmakers' main goal of ensuring local law enforcement agencies do not enter voluntary 287(g) agreements with ICE.
These agreements allow law enforcement agencies to enforce certain aspects of U.S. immigration law, including "identify[ing] and processing removable aliens with pending or active criminal charges, enforc[ing] limited immigration authorities with ICE oversight during routine duties, and serv[ing] and execut[ing] administrative warrants on removable aliens in [local] jail[s]."
Camden Police Department is the only known law enforcement agency in Delaware to have entered into an enforcement agreement with ICE but walked that agreement back just a week later after facing public backlash.
"This bill is narrowly tailored to to basically address the issues that we had that a local law enforcement may in the state of Delaware enter into the agreement — after today, it's not going to happen. We're in agreement with that," Sgt. Ripple said. "Instead, it allows local law enforcement to focus on what we do: state criminal law and enforcement of federal criminal law pursuant to court orders — valid court orders."
Both Rep. Lynn's and Gorman's bills await consideration on the House floor.
Rep. Gorman's second bill released from committee, while not targeted solely on matters of civil immigration, would prohibit civil arrests from being made in courthouses without a judicial warrant.
“When people are afraid to show up to court, justice cannot be served. Victims don't come forward, witnesses stay home, defendants miss their hearings – that's not justice, that's fear," Rep. Gorman said.
She explained during the bill’s committee hearing that some jurisdictions outside Delaware have been using civil arrests to target immigrants, which she says inhibits participation in the courts.
All of these bills have just four days to clear the House and the Senate in order to reach the governor’s desk for signature this year.
