Bucks County sheriff ends ICE collaboration agreement

From Delco to Chesco and Montco to Bucks, what about life in Philly’s suburbs do you want WHYY News to cover? Let us know!

Bucks County Sheriff Danny Ceisler officially withdrew his office from a collaboration agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Wednesday, citing public safety concerns and the need to reestablish trust between local law enforcement and the county’s more than 50,000 immigrant residents.

“When large numbers of our residents are afraid to call 911, or come to court and testify, that makes our entire community less safe,” Ceisler told a small crowd Wednesday in front of the Bucks County Justice Center. “This is not a public safety problem for immigrants. This is a public safety problem for everyone.”

Sheriff’s deputies are now prohibited from asking crime victims, witnesses and court observers about their immigration status per the order Ceisler signed this morning.

Former Sheriff Fred Harran signed the 287(g) agreement with ICE last spring, triggering widespread backlash and a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania that argues Harran did not have the authority to enter into the agreement without the approval of county commissioners. In October, a judge upheld Harran’s authority and rejected a preliminary injunction order seeking to stay implementation of the program.

The contract, under the task force model adopted by Harran, allowed local law enforcement officers to be trained by the federal agency to collaborate and carry out some immigration enforcement activities.

That model “grants extraordinary powers to local law enforcement agencies,” Ceisler said. “It allows them to stop anybody, detain anybody who they believe is in the country without current authorization.”

Harran argued that the sheriff’s office would only assist ICE in detaining people who have committed “serious” crimes.

Sixteen sheriff’s deputies underwent training to participate in the program, Ceiseler said, but Harran never fully implemented the collaboration.

Ceisler, a U.S. Army veteran, campaigned heavily on the issue in the 2025 elections, vowing to withdraw from the program. The Democrat won more than 55% of the vote to oust Harran, a Republican.

“This is what was on voters’ minds, and we won, and we won handily,” Ceisler said Wednesday.

Immigrant rights advocate and Bucks County resident Heidi Roux said the immigrant community is “breathing a collective sigh of relief.”

Because of the agreement, Roux said that some immigrant community members feared calling 911 or coming to the courthouse to pay a parking ticket.

“We acknowledge that, along with local law enforcement and our criminal justice system, our unified goal is the pursuit of justice,” Roux told the crowd. “Violent criminals should absolutely be held accountable for their actions, regardless of their immigration status. I believe criminal activity can be addressed while simultaneously supporting the human rights and the dignity of all of our residents.”

Bucks is ‘not a so-called sanctuary county’

Ceisler said that the county “has not severed all ties with ICE, nor precluded future partnership with ICE when it comes to dangerous criminals.” The county “is not, has never been, and will never be a so-called sanctuary county,” he said.

“We will ensure that actual criminals, people involved in human trafficking, fentanyl distribution, child exploitation, violent crime and fraud and are in the country illegally are deported, which had been the standard practice in Bucks County for decades,” he said.

The county’s Department of Corrections shares data and fingerprints from anyone booked in the system via a database called LiveScan, Ceisler said, which is accessible to ICE and hundreds of other law enforcement agencies across the country. Bucks County correctional facilities continue to honor ICE judicial warrants, he said.

“After months of open dialogue with our local police chiefs and community leaders, they have affirmed that this is the right balance between protecting our community from crime and protecting our community from fear,” Ceisler said.

Ceisler condemned Philadelphia Sheriff Rochelle Bilal’s remarks last week calling ICE “fake, wannabe law enforcement” as “counter-productive.” Bilal “blurred jurisdictional lines,” Ceisler said, and “stepped on the toes of [Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin] Bethel.”

“I understand that many people are angry and frustrated, but we all have our role and responsibility in this process, and as a law enforcement executive, what she did is not it,” he said.