Plum Council will be the latest local government discussing non-cooperation with ICE on Monday.
Councilman Ray Rall said council is hoping to solicit the community’s opinion ahead of any action.
“Right now, it’s just a matter of putting it up for discussion,” Rall said.
A newly elected Democrat, Rall said he’s concerned by the recent surge of immigration agents in Minnesota as well as the percieved lax training standards for new federal officers.
He said a potential non-cooperation agreement isn’t necessarily a statement on immigration policy.
Instead, Rall said, it would be an effort to protect Plum Police and preserve borough resources.
A non-cooperation agreement would not have the force to halt ICE activity in the borough entirely, but it could bar police from aiding immigration operations or sharing certain information with federal agents.
“Lots of boroughs are doing it, and I think it’s in our interest to at least look into it,” he said.
But Mayor Harry Schlegel, who oversees Plum’s police, said he’s already directed the police department to stay out of immigration operations.
In a directive dated Feb. 4, the mayor told police they could be present to assist other agencies with traffic or crowd control, but Schlegel prohibited officers from transporting, detaining or holding individuals while assisting other law enforcement agencies.
The directive also barred Plum Police from executing arrest warrants or acting on immigration detatiners unless the warrant falls within the department’s jurisdiction or there’s an immediate threat to public safety.
Schlegel said he’s staunchly against a non-cooperation agreement, saying he doesn’t see the need to pass a resolution directing the department to meet standards he says it already does.
“The potential problem has already been addressed,” he said. “How much redundancy do you want?”
Neighboring Oakmont is perhaps the most prominent municipality in the area to pass a non-cooperation resolution.
Oakmont’s decision came after one of its residents, Jose Flores, was detained and later released by ICE in January.
That’s in addition to several other local governments that have said they won’t cooperate with immigration agents, including McCandless, Bellevue and Swissvale.
Across the river in Springdale, however, officials have inked a 287(g) agreement to work with ICE, resulting in the detainment of Peru-born resident Randy Cordova-Flores earlier this month.
Plum was the scene of its own ICE detainment earlier this month when Indian-born Scott Township resident Vishavdeep Singh was arrested after police said he attempted to flee from a hearing at District Judge Mike Doyle’s courtroom.
Last November, Singh was charged with felony aggravated assault in Oakmont after, police say, he pointed what turned out to be an airsoft gun at fellow drivers as he sped through the borough. His immigration status remains unclear.
Rall is among four Democrats that shattered an all-Republican council in the November election, something he partially attributes to a local reaction to national politics.
He said he has no illusions that opinions on ICE in the borough will be unanimous, but he believes recent Democratic success and an uptick in operations in the area means there may be some appetite for non-cooperation.
Among the newly elected councilman is James McBride, who was named council vice president in January.
He said the agreement’s path forward would depend on the public’s reaction, saying he was waiting to hear more opinions.
The vice president said he wouldn’t be present at Monday’s discussion meeting but would be there for council’s voting meeting the following Monday.
Council is set to meet at the Plum Borough Building on Monday at 7 p.m.
