SNYDERVILLE, Utah (AP) - Two law enforcement officials from the Utah resort area of Park City drew cheers from a large crowd with their promises not to let officers help federal immigration officials apprehend people living in the U.S. without proper documents.
Summit County Sheriff Justin Martinez and Park City Police Chief Wade Carpenter told about 300 people Thursday in Summitville that they won’t agree to deputize officers to carry out federal operations, the Deseret News reported (https://bit.ly/2lRKTLY).
The meeting at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Snyderville also drew representatives from the Consulate of Mexico in Salt Lake City, the American Civil Liberties Union and Holy Cross Ministries.
It was organized amid uncertainty about immigration measures undertaken by President Donald Trump, following the arrests of four people early Feb. 17 by Immigration Customs and Enforcement officers in Park City.
Carpenter said he was assured the arrests were not part of a sweep of undocumented immigrants, but an effort by federal agents to arrest “specified individuals” with felony criminal histories or who have re-entered the United States illegally after being deported.
May Payan, a Park City resident, said the prospect of deportation terrifies undocumented immigrants and paralyzes the Latino community in Summit County. “It literally feels like your family member has died when they’re in Customs, when they are going to be deported,” she said.
Martinez and Carpenter referred to a federal immigration law that provides for state employees or agencies to help in “the investigation, apprehension, or detention of aliens in the United States.”
“I will not be doing that as a sheriff,” Martinez said to loud applause. “This is a federal immigration issue, and therefore I will not be participating in that (and be) deputized.”
Carpenter also called immigration the responsibility of the federal government and said Park City police will not participate.
Martinez received more applause when he said he would not let the Summit County Jail be designated for the long-term detention of suspects in ICE cases.
The sheriff urged residents not to fear sheriff’s deputies and to understand the difference between federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement and local police. “We’re not ICE,” he said.
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Information from: Deseret News, https://www.deseretnews.com
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