Will Lambek, left, and Enrique Balcazar, both of Migrant Justice, speak at a rally in November outside federal court in Burlington about a lawsuit the organization filed against federal immigration authorities. Photo by Alan J. Keays/VTDigger
This story by Jordan Cuddemi was published by the Valley News on June 6.
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — The Hartford Selectboard is considering a policy that would bar, in most cases, communication between Hartford police officers and federal authorities about a person’s immigration status, a move that social justice activists say would provide a sense of security to undocumented immigrants in the Upper Valley.
Dozens of Hartford-area residents urged the Selectboard to adopt the policy on June 4, and several board members said they support amending the town’s Fair and Impartial Policing policy to enact the proposal.
Activists said, for instance, that an undocumented immigrant who was pulled over for a broken taillight in Hartford shouldn’t fear being reported to federal immigration officials unless it was necessary as part of an ongoing investigation of a felony.
Hartford Police Chief Phil Kasten, who is opposed to the amendments, said in an interview on Thursday that his officers would never do that, and in a memo to the Selectboard, Town Manager Brannon Godfrey said he too opposes updates to the policy as drafted by the American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont and Migrant Justice, a Burlington-based organization pushing for economic justice and human rights. Godfrey said the town’s existing policy already states that Hartford police have “no obligation” to communicate with federal immigration authorities regarding an individual’s immigration status but aren’t prohibited from doing so if public safety or that of witnesses and victims was at issue.
Godfrey also said the amendment could have negative consequences.
“The abolition of communication with federal immigration authorities hampers the ability of the police department to protect all people in Hartford, including undocumented persons, and most certainly crime victims,” he wrote. “The amendment impedes criminal investigations.”
Hartford would become the second town in Vermont to adopt the policy, which supporters say would close “loopholes for profiling and biased policing.” Among other measures, it would forbid police from sharing information with federal authorities about a person’s immigration status unless it was part of an ongoing felony investigation and from granting Border Patrol and other immigration officials access to people in Hartford police custody, unless there was a legitimate law enforcement purpose. Their immigration status alone would not qualify for contact with federal authorities.
The Winooski Police Department adopted the measure last year.
Through an interpreter, Enrique Balcazar, a leader of Migrant Justice, told the Selectboard the goal is to separate the work of local police from federal authorities and “keep them out of the deportation machine.”
Balcazar, who has lived in Vermont for about eight years, said fear of being deported has stuck with him and others and has prevented them from taking advantage of all the community has to offer, as something as simple as a traffic violation could lead to their deportation.
“Part of my community is living in the Upper Valley, and they are also living with fear,” he said, according to a CATV video of the meeting. “We work to (get) driver’s licenses, but we never know when we will come across a police officer who chooses to collaborate with immigration. … We want Hartford to be a place that is safe, where people come to shop, to enjoy themselves.”
His thoughts were echoed by about two dozen community members at the meeting. Pamela Voekel, who teaches history at Dartmouth College, read a statement written by an undocumented student who said they shouldn’t be afraid to call the police in a time of need. “We live in constant fear,” the student wrote. “We are law-abiding and active contributors to our community.”
El Gonzales, who is taking a year off from Dartmouth and moved to White River Junction because “this community seemed more forward thinking and welcoming,” urged the board to amend the policy, saying it is “the right thing to do to end violence inflicted by ICE and border agents.”
“Our community should be a place of safety and comfort for everyone, and that does not just include documented white people,” Gonzales said.
Kasten, who was not able to attend Tuesday’s Selectboard meeting, said on Thursday that he is “fully supportive” of Fair and Impartial Policing and that his department doesn’t get involved in whether people they come in contact with are in the country legally or not.
“The Hartford Police Department does not investigate immigration status,” he said. “Those aren’t questions that are asked.”
He added: “I understand there are people in the community who are concerned and are in fear. I understand that, and I hear that loud and clear.”
Kasten said the changes as proposed could go too far, such as in potentially hamstringing undercover drug investigations that might involve both federal agents and local police, but that he is open to reviewing policies and to ensuring “we do this in a thoughtful and careful manner.”
There was talk at the meeting that adopting the policy also could put Hartford at risk of losing certain federal funding and increase insurance premiums. Godfrey said in the memo that the updates to the policy also contradict federal law.
The Fair and Impartial Policing policy in Vermont has been on the books for a few years, after the Vermont Criminal Justice Training Council created a model policy and mandated its adoption. But Will Lambek, a leader of Migrant Justice, said via email that the council in 2017 weakened its model policy to “create loopholes to allow continued collaboration with federal deportation agencies.”
“It is not accurate to say that the proposed policy would mean eliminating all communications with (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). The policy ensures that the Hartford PD is not a party to the Trump administrations policy of mass deportation by limiting harmful collaboration on issues of immigration enforcement. The Hartford PD would still be able to communicate with federal agencies regarding criminal investigations unrelated to civil immigration enforcement,” Lambek wrote.
More recently, the Vermont Legislature passed a bill that made clear that the council’s current Fair and Impartial Policing policy is the “floor and not the ceiling” and that local communities can put more restrictive policies in place about sharing information with federal authorities if they so choose, Lambek said. The Winooski Police Department did just that and “the sky has not fallen,” he added.
The ACLU of Vermont has backed activists — including Hartford residents who have came together through the United Valley Interfaith Project — in pushing for the amendment in Hartford, calling the proposed changes “meaningful and significant protections for the immigrant community.”
Several Selectboard members on Tuesday night — including Kim Souza, Simon Dennis, Alan Johnson, Jameson Davis and Dan Fraser — signaled they were interested in adopting the policy, though some also felt they should wait for a legal review and for Kasten to formally weigh in.
“Until we live in the town and the state and the country where we feel like we can really trust that our police officers are going to do the right thing, I think this is a tiny thing we can do to move toward that goal,” Souza said.
Selectman Dick Grassi said the policy amendments sounded “legitimate and reasonable,” but he and Selectman Dennis Brown, who didn’t offer an opinion, said they wanted more information.
Simon Dennis, the Selectboard chairman, made it a point to say that the topic wasn’t being discussed because of anything that Hartford Police Department has done, but rather because of “the implicit threat and fear that is experienced by people.”
The Selectboard said it will seek more information from Kasten and the town’s attorney and would meet again on the issue in the near future.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Hartford mulls barring discussion of immigration status with federal authorities.