ACLU says Colby slow in granting request for his communications with ICE
By Michael Bielawski
The ACLU is suing Essex County Sheriff Trevor Colby for allegedly hindering their access to statements he’s made regarding their dealings with illegal immigrants and federal ICE (immigration enforcement) agents.
They allege that the sheriff may have violated the state’s ‘fair and impartial policing’ law as well as the Vermont Public Records Act. Oral arguments began on Tuesday.
The ACLU’s interest is based in part on these statements attributed to Colby in a December 23 Community News Service news report:
“[Colby] emphasized that his priority is to keep residents within his jurisdiction safe, and people in his relatively remote part of the state get shaken up when they see unfamiliar folks. Up there, he said, everyone basically knows everyone. Colby said he would likely call immigration authorities after a traffic stop if he thought the people in the car were undocumented….Colby estimated his department had relayed about 20 cases to immigration authorities in the last year, not a particularly high figure in his mind.”
The suit states, “In this action, Plaintiff the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Vermont (ACLU) seeks an order compelling Defendant Essex County Sheriff’s Department (ECSD) to produce to the ACLU electronic copies of public records in its possession and to cease its practice of requiring that records requestors travel to its office in Guildhall, Vermont, to inspect responsive records.”
It does not allege that records are being withheld outright, but rather they are being made inconvenient to get to.
The suit continues, “1 V.S.A. § 315(a), Vermont’s Public Records Act (PRA) leaves to the requestor, not the public agency, the choice of whether to inspect records or, instead, to receive copies of them.”
The Department filed a motion to dismiss the case. No decision has been made.
The conflict began when the ACLU requested communication records between the Department and the feds, the ACLU suspected the fair and impartial policing policy may have been violated.
The Department is arguing that it’s their policy to have reporters come in person to view records, and there was an invite by the sheriff that a reporter ride along in a police cruiser which was turned down.
‘Fair and Impartial Policing’
Immigration enforcement is been a controversial issue for Vermont because state and federal policies conflict.
Vermont’s ‘Fair and Impartial Policing’ policy includes, “Citizenship or immigration status shall not be used as reason to arrest someone instead of citing them and shall not impact the decision on whether to seek continued custody pursuant to Vermont Rule of Criminal Procedure 3, except that criminal liability for offenses where one’s citizenship, or immigration status, is an essential element is a factor that may be considered in a Rule 3 determination.”
The Vermont Criminal Justice Council further defines what its ‘fair and impartial policing’ means for the state’s law enforcement.
“Employees are prohibited from engaging in biased policing. This means no member of [this agency] shall take actions based on any personal characteristics or citizenship or immigration status, except as described below, in the services our employees provide to the community in connection with our law enforcement activities,” it states.
The policy was recently updated with multiple changes advocated for largely by left-wing activist groups. One change for example makes it more difficult for an officer to ask for an ID.
Changes at the federal level
With the incoming Trump administration will likely come new federal immigration policies, including how the federal government and local police interact. NYC Mayor Eric Adams has been one high-profile Democrat who is endorsing the change.
“I’m hoping this administration will hear what I’m saying and listen to some of the ideas that I have been pushing for close to two years now,” Adams said.
Another Democrat, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, says their city’s police are not going to cooperate. She cited “The Boston Trust Act” which she claims prohibits such cooperation.
Wu said it “puts strict prohibitions on local law enforcement from being pulled into becoming the enforcement arm for the whims of whatever the sort of approach of the federal immigration law might be.”
The author is a writer for the Vermont Daily Chronicle