Residents show up to support Sheriff Slupe, others to oppose ICE contract at Wednesday county commissioner meeting
A group of people who attended the county commissioners’ meeting Wednesday, July 23, carried red signs and bared stickers saying “We support our sheriff” in support of Sheriff Mike Slupe.
Others who oppose the agreement Slupe signed to assist U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement in arresting illegal immigrants attended to say a contract between the county and ICE is needed. The agreement was signed without formal approval by the county commissioners.
In total, 16 people, from both factions, voiced their opinions on the ICE agreement during the public comment period toward the end of the meeting — once prompting Chairman of the Board of Commissioners Leslie Osche to suggest concluding the meeting as the crowd spoke over a person speaking at the podium.
Cindy Hilderbrand, of Donegal Township, and Chester Jack, of Cranberry Township, both said they support Slupe.
“I don’t see why you need to get in his lane. I think you need to just stay out of his lane,” Hildebrand said. “Leave Sheriff Slupe alone. Let him do his job.”
Jack said he believes an existing nationwide agreement pertaining to ICE operations in local jurisdictions makes a contract unnecessary.
“I think we should let them do their job,” Jack said.
Meanwhile, Anne Baker, of Butler Township, who opposes the agreement, said the red signs carried by many to the meeting were misleading.
“We — all of us — do not, ‘not support,’ the sheriff,” she said. “I think the signs are meant to cause further division.”
Baker spoke at the meeting to say the commissioners should approve contracts with advance public notice, and a contract is needed to spell out financial responsibility. She also said the sheriff’s office should address a backlog of unserved warrants.
Others like Pauline Paluso, of Butler Township, said she supports Slupe and “Making America Great Again,” but not the ICE agreement.
She said the commissioners probably would have voted 2-1 in favor of the agreement, but she feels there is no accountability for the money the sheriff’s office will spend working with ICE and there is no funding for the agreement in the budget. Training 12 deputies for 40 hours equals three months of personnel time, she said.
“It’s about budget and money and how you want to spend your money,” Paluso said.
Tom King, the 49-year solicitor for the sheriff’s office and the 26-year solicitor for the Pennsylvania Sheriffs’ Association and the Pennsylvania Republican Party solicitor, joined the residents speaking Wednesday to say the state Constitution designates sheriffs as constitutional officers. The sheriff’s office is not a county department, and the commissioners don’t control the sheriff’s actions, he continued.
Slupe, who did not attend the meeting, is at the association’s annual conference taking place in Pittsburgh, King said. Slupe is the association’s second vice president.
King said he is involved in fighting the lawsuit the American Civil Liberties Union and others brought against Bucks County over its sheriff signing an agreement to assist ICE without approval from the county commissioners. He said he is appearing Aug. 4 in Bucks County Common Pleas Court to argue on behalf of the sheriff.
In the lawsuit, the American Civil Liberties Union claims the Bucks County sheriff violated the Pennsylvania Constitution and the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Act by signing the agreement in April.
“The (Pennsylvania Sheriffs’) association stands for the proposition that sheriffs are able to enter into agreements like this. This is a memorandum of understanding — not a contract that can be enforced by ICE or by the county against ICE,” King said.
He described it as a cooperation agreement to assist federal law enforcement.
“Who they’re enforcing this against is people who have enter this country illegally. The minute they step foot here they violated the law. They’ve broken the law,” King said.
ICE has asked sheriffs across the state for help, and Slupe is among those who agreed, he said.
“The sheriff has a right to do this. It’s lawful, it’s legal,” King said.
He said he is glad people came to support Slupe — a comment that drew pushback.
“We’re not being unsupportive of the sheriff. Not at all. What we don’t support is what we perceive is an illegal contract or agreement he’s entered into,” said a voice from the crowd.
The woman said she fears the county will be sued like Bucks County.
“I don’t support masked thugs with no identification or warrants jumping out of unmarked vehicles and kidnapping people. If you think it’s just them it’s happening to and it can’t happen to you or your family, you need to read a history book or two,” she said.
Former county controller Jack McMillin, of Zelienople, said President Donald Trump was elected on a promise to enforce border laws.
He said most people’s ancestors followed immigration rules when they moved to the country, and asked the commissioners to remedy any impairments to Slupe assisting ICE.
Virginia Harmon, of Donegal Township, said she feels generations before did not enter the country legally because of an open immigration policy.
“People who came here multiple generations ago did not come here legally because there were no (immigration) laws. We just had open immigration. That’s why this country became what it is. Every generation, every ethnicity that came here suffered at the hands of those who came before,” Harmon said.
Three generations ago, Irish immigrants were met with disdain, she said.
“Eventually people assimilate, and we all are Americans. We would like to see that continue,” Harmon said.
This story was updated at 8:30 a.m. July 24 to correct a quote from Anne Baker.
