Ruling on temporary halt to Bucks ICE collaboration expected by end of October

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A Court of Common Pleas judge said he expects to rule on a motion that seeks to temporarily halt a collaboration agreement between the Bucks County Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement by the end of October.

At a hearing Friday, Judge Jeffrey G. Trauger said his ruling on the temporary injunction motion to halt the sheriff’s 287(g) agreement with ICE should come by the end of next month, while the lawsuit proceeds in state court. Trauger requested the plaintiffs’ and defendant’s attorneys submit their briefs by 5 p.m. on Oct. 10.

Bucks County Sheriff Fred Harran entered into the agreement with ICE last spring. The 287(g) collaboration program, which has rapidly expanded nationwide since President Donald Trump took office in January, trains local law enforcement to carry out some immigration enforcement duties and allows them to assist ICE in its operations.

Some residents have pushed back, with dozens of people protesting against the agreement ahead of the first day of the hearing on Sept. 16.

At Friday’s court proceedings, the last in-person hearing before the judge rules on the temporary injunction, three additional witnesses were called by attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, which filed the lawsuit against Harran on behalf of several advocacy groups and a county resident in June. The lawsuit argues that the sheriff does not have the authority to enter into an agreement with an external agency without the county commissioners’ approval.

The witnesses — Diana Robinson, co-executive director of Make the Road Pennsylvania, and Karen Rodriguez and Heidi Roux, both members of Make the Road Pennsylvania — said the agreement would lead to sheriff’s deputies racial profiling people, and testified that fear generated by the local agency’s collaboration with ICE is already causing harm to Latino residents in Bucks County.

“My concerns are that people are going to be racially profiled,” Rodriguez said. She said she is a U.S. citizen, but is afraid of being detained by immigration enforcement officers because she speaks Spanish and is Puerto Rican. Those fears have caused her to stop attending a Spanish-language mass at her local church in the county, and skip out on attending Hispanic heritage festivals in the region.

Harran took the stand again in a rebuttal, insisting that he plans to only execute some of the powers afforded to him in the agreement. He said he will focus solely on detaining and identifying people with a warrant for their arrest who are also wanted by ICE due to immigration violations.

Roux said that fears about how the sheriff’s office could use the powers granted by the agreement beyond Harran’s stated intent remain. She said the collaboration is “not an à la carte menu.”

Harran said the program comes at “zero cost” to county taxpayers, and testified that ICE can reimburse the county for vehicles, equipment and some portion of the salaries of the sheriff’s deputies who participate in the program.

In response to questioning from county Solicitor Amy Fitzpatrick, Harran said he would not search people’s names who come to the courthouse as victims or witnesses, and would instead only search the names of people who are there for “any type of criminal activity court appearance.”

Trauger said he could consider issuing a ruling that limits the sheriff’s powers in the agreement to Harran’s testimony in the hearing.

Wally Zimolong, Harran’s attorney, asked the judge to consider a speedy resolution to the case, citing Harran’s campaign for reelection in November. Attorneys for the plaintiffs also expressed their desire for a swift conclusion.