From left: Washington County State’s Attorney Scott Williams, Vermont State Police Maj. Glenn Hall, and Montpelier Police Chief Tony Facos. Photo by Elizabeth Hewitt/VTDigger
The city was recently placed on a federal list targeting sanctuary jurisdictions. In response, officials removed restrictions on communication with federal immigration authorities about the immigration status of residents.
Montpelier Police Chief Anthony Facos said the changes bring the policy into compliance with federal law.
The revised policy, implemented April 4, removes two clauses. One would have barred the department from contacting federal immigration authorities solely on the basis of a suspect’s race, ethnicity, national origin, or immigration status. The other would have prohibited police from providing information to federal immigration authorities beyond what is publicly available.
Since 2014, the department had operated under a state fair and impartial policing policy.
Just two weeks after Montpelier appeared on a federal list of jurisdictions that limit cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the city changed its policy.
The list was developed as part of Trump’s January executive order targeting sanctuary jurisdictions.
That order also calls for federal funding to be withheld from jurisdictions that violate 8 U.S.C 1373, a federal law prohibiting local and state law enforcement from withholding immigration status information from federal authorities.
Montpelier anticipates receiving $8.9 million in federal funding in fiscal year 2017.
Richard Gauthier, who heads the Vermont Criminal Justice Training Council, the group that developed the state’s fair and impartial policing policy, identified the two clauses removed by Facos as “the most problematic sections from a legal perspective.”
Jay Diaz, of the Vermont ACLU, disagreed with that assessment.
“The intent of these sections, when read in context and plainly in comparison to the federal law in question, shows that they do not violate federal law,” Diaz said.
Diaz said Supreme Court precedent would bar the federal government from withdrawing funding for state and local governments.
“If Montpelier and other municipalities around Vermont want to stand up to President Trump’s deportation machine, we hope they will forego such unnecessary changes to this vital policy,” Diaz said.
A guide to cities and towns on immigration enforcement put out by the Vermont Attorney General’s office explains that 8 U.S.C 1373 forbids state and local governments from prohibiting employees from sharing information about individuals’ citizenship and immigration status.
The Vermont Attorney General advises that “municipalities should not adopt any policies or practices that prohibit or punish voluntary disclosure of immigration status information to federal authorities.”
The Attorney General’s office did not respond to a request for comment on its explicit position on the legality of the two clauses.
Montpelier Mayor John Hollar said that he supported both the city’s Sanctuary City resolution, which calls on city departments to codify policies requiring police to refuse requests for information on a resident’s immigration status, but he acknowledged that changes were made to the policy to “ensure that it is fully compliant with federal law.”
Facos supported the city council’s adoption of the Sanctuary City Resolution in testimony last November.
“It goes to the heart of fair and impartial policing that we don’t become an extension of the federal government in terms of immigration law,” and called sanctuary protections important to police work. “It’s just making sure that if you’re the victim of a crime, or need services, you will come – we don’t care about your status being here, and we will take care of you as we would anyone.”
City manager Bill Fraser and Hollar both said the police department’s fair and impartial policing guidelines were the only policies that could be used to identify Montpelier as a sanctuary city.
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