At 6:30 on Tuesday, February 18 there will be a rally followed by a public forum in support of new legislation that would ban the dangerous and unethical sharing of information between ICE and local police. Meet at City Hall in Burlington (149 Church St.). Please join to take a stand for human rights in our community!
Facebook event link: https://www.facebook.com/events/2186825298280418/
Human Rights Violations
The collaboration of local police with ICE is an attack on human rights in our community. Loopholes in current policing guidelines allow the sharing of confidential information with ICE, so long as it's justified on the grounds of "public safety" or "law enforcement needs". Furthermore, police are able to evade the Fair and Impartial Policing Policy's prohibitions on asking about immigration status by allowing officers to rely on the pretext that the person is suspected of having recently crossed the border. These loopholes legitimize profiling and discrimination in our community and endanger the safety and dignity of all.
Economic Waste
Spending public resources on local police officers helping to deport our undocumented neighbors means that those resources are not being spent addressing actual problems that affect the daily lives of people in our community. Studies have shown (https://www.themarshallproject.org/2019/05/13/is-there-a-connection-between-undocumented-imm[...]ime) that there is no connection between undocumented immigrant populations and increased crime. Local police's collaboration with ICE does not make our community safer and is a waste of time and money.
Legal Violations
The Chittenden County Police Department's own Fair and Impartial Policing Policy states that "members of the Chittenden County Sheriff's Department shall not initiate or prolong stops for the purpose of enforcing civil immigration matters, such as a suspicion of undocumented status, nor shall they prolong stops for the purpose of allowing federal immigration authorities to conduct such investigation." Nonetheless, the local police have been using loopholes in the local Fair and Impartial Policing Policy to justify its exchange of information with ICE.
The exchange of information between ICE and the Chittenden County Police is an inexcusable collaboration between separate government agencies. Furthermore, ICE and local police serve different roles. Unlike ICE, the Chittenden County Police's priority is not enforcing immigration law, but rather serving and protecting the community. Chittenden County Police have not been adhering to their own policing guidelines. The Chittenden County Police Department has been sharing information with ICE and, unless a law is put in place, they will continue to do so. It is essential that we pass legislation to close loopholes in local police guidelines to stop police from collaborating with ICE.
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