SEAFORD, Del. - The American Civil Liberties Union has issued an open letter to Delaware Governor Matt Meyer calling on him to issue renewed guidance for local and state police regarding when they can assist in Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.
The letter comes exactly a week following an arrest in Sussex County in which Seaford and Delaware State Police responded to an ICE arrest in progress. The Seaford Police said they helped secure the scene and move a trailer as federal agents attempted to arrest a suspect. Seaford Police said they only became involved after the suspect resisted arrest and hid beneath a utility trailer.
“[W]hen situations involving federal partners turns into a criminal investigation, as it did yesterday, we are legally allowed to and will assist, as we would for any criminal investigation within our jurisdiction,” the Seaford Police Department said following the incident.
On Nov. 13, the ACLU sent their letter to Meyer directly referencing the incident and identified the man arrested as Carlos Chaj-Gonzalez.
The ACLU says it is unclear whether ICE possessed a valid warrant for Chaj-Gonalez’s arrest or if DSP or Seaford Police asked to see a warrant for the arrest. ICE maintains that the suspect was an “illegal alien,” but has not provided evidence of their legal right to detain him, the ACLU argues.
In their letter to the governor, the ACLU outlines Delaware’s previously-issued guidance in regards to ICE operations. In February, Meyer’s office directed that state resources would not be used to assist federal immigration agents without a valid warrant or if there was no threat to the community. Delaware has also banned 287(g) agreements between local police and ICE.
The arrest in Seaford, according to the ACLU, raises concerns that state police may have violated this previous guidance, and underscored a need for Meyer to clarify when and how state and local police are permitted to cooperate with ICE. The ACLU urged Governor Meyer to act immediately and issue renewed guidance.
"Without clear guidance, inconsistent responses from state and local agencies risk undermining public safety by decreasing trust in law enforcement and diverting resources away from programs that keep our communities safe,” the ACLU’s letter reads. “We also run the risk of Delaware being unintentionally dragged into the federal administration’s immigration enforcement regime under backdoor, misleading pretenses that state and local law enforcement must respond to public safety threats where none actually exist."
In concluding their letter to the governor, the ACLU requests that Meyer respond and detail next steps in forming the guidance by Nov. 20.