State College, county officials push back on ‘sanctuary jurisdictions’ label

Centre County and State College Borough officials expressed concern and confusion this week after the entities were listed by the federal government as “sanctuary jurisdictions” accused of defying federal immigration law.

The list, which was posted Thursday on the Department of Homeland Security’s website but taken down just days later, included over 500 other cities, counties and states that “protect dangerous criminal aliens from facing consequences and put law enforcement in peril.”

Neither the borough or the county has received a formal notification from DHS of their alleged noncompliance or reasons why they were included on the list.

“We comply with all relevant federal laws and regulations, and we regularly cooperate with federal law enforcement,” Commissioner Mark Higgins said at Tuesday’s board of commissioners meeting. “We’re waiting for correspondence from the federal government telling us what the metrics were to get on the list in the first place, and then hopefully some sort of instructions on how we could work our way off the list.”

The county government has had no problems complying with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainers, he said.

Despite the list being taken down, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said Monday that the Trump administration will continue to use it, meaning federal funding could be at risk for the communities on the list.

It could mean the loss of the “couple million dollars” of direct federal grants the county receives each year, Higgins said, as well as the “large portion of human services funding” that originates at the federal level and is distributed to the county by the state.

In a statement at Monday’s borough council meeting, council president Evan Myers expressed frustration with the lack of clarification about the list, its removal and whether it will still be used.

“Is there a list, and if so, who knows who’s on it now? Is your head spinning yet?” Myers asked the room. “Let me state this: at no time has DHS contacted State College about any noncompliance or asked for anything from State College regarding our enforcement of federal immigration laws.”

While Myers said the State College Police Department has a policy about not enforcing federal immigration law, that policy has been used as a reciprocal approach to law enforcement, with the borough leaving immigration law enforcement to ICE detainers.

“We wouldn’t expect ICE to come and enforce out traffic law or give out traffic tickets — it’s not their jurisdiction, like immigration measures are not in ours,” he said.

Borough leadership clarified in January 2017 that it was not a sanctuary city, noting a previous council resolution simply made value statements about immigration. Meanwhile, the county government has never passed anything related to “sanctuary jurisdictions.”

Myers listed possible reasons the borough may have been included on the list, including that it’s a welcoming community for immigrants, but said it’s impossible to know for sure.

“We can speculate, but all we can do for the moment is wait and see if there’s any further clarification,” Myers said. “The one thing we can do is to continue our stand on our values of promoting an open, diverse and welcoming community, and that is exactly what we’ll continue to do.

“The one thing the Trump administration can do is to stop playing with people’s lives.”

In Pennsylvania, five cities and 11 counties were placed on the list, which was created as a direct result of Executive Order 14287, signed on April 28.

Among the five cities on the list were Gettysburg, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, State College and York. The 11 counties were Adams, Allegheny, Centre, Chester, Clarion, Dauphin, Delaware, Lehigh, Montgomery, Montour and Northampton.