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Immigration report calls out Franklin, St. Lawrence counties

Sheriffs say it must be a mistake, saying details are incorrect

Franklin County Sheriff Kevin Mulverhill (Enterprise photo — Tom Salitsky)

County sheriffs along New York’s Canadian border are scratching their heads over a federal report on places that refuse to cooperate with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

The Department of Homeland Security’s Declined Detainer Outcome report, released Monday, identifies Franklin and St. Lawrence counties as non-cooperative jurisdictions, either by routinely failing to comply with detaining deportable aliens or by enacting policies that limit cooperation with ICE. This lumps these two counties in with “sanctuary cities” that protect immigrants who lack legal documents by not helping the federal government enforce immigration law.

To these counties’ sheriffs, the appearance of the report is a surprise and its specific findings are bewildering.

For instance, Franklin County Sheriff Kevin Mulverhill disputes the ICE report’s claim that in the week from Jan. 28 to Feb. 3, nine “detainers” were issued in his county, the sixth highest in the country. A detainer notifies law enforcement agencies of ICE’s intent to assume custody of a removable alien detained in federal, state or local custody.

“The numbers are completely inaccurate.” said Mulverhill, whose sheriff’s office runs the Franklin County Jail in Malone. “I think in the six years I’ve been here, we’ve had maybe two or three detainers. We’ve never had nine in one week.”

People being held on detainers must remain in local law enforcement custody for up to 48 hours, waiting for ICE agents to assume custody. ICE sometimes asks jails to hold them longer, but Mulverhill said his county releases them after 48 hours, for fear of being sued.

“It’s not like we’re a sanctuary county, or trying to be a sanctuary county.” Mulverhill said, insisting that area law enforcement is simply following the law in releasing detained people after 48 hours. “But as a sheriff, I have to look out for the county and not expose it to a lawsuit.”

Detainer lawsuits are regular occurrences, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, and although the request comes from ICE, a state, county or city can be liable for damages. In a fact sheet for local law enforcement agencies regarding ICE detainers, the ACLU cites a number of legal precedents, including the 2011 case of a Colorado man who received $40,000 from the county where he was held after being jailed for 47 days on an ICE detainer, well past the 48-hour limit.

Although St. Lawrence County was not cited for as many detainers as Franklin County over the same time period, it was listed in the report as a jurisdiction that has enacted policies that limit cooperation with ICE. Specifically, the report states that St. Lawrence County has a policy of not honoring ICE detainers.

“It’s not a true report.” St. Lawrence County Sheriff Kevin Wells said. “It’s not factual. They’re making assumptions based on what people tell them. No one ever came to talk to us.”

Neither county’s sheriff thought Monday’s report was an attempt by the Trump administration to shame his jurisdiction since they don’t believe the numbers to be accurate.

“Shame? No. Not at all.” Wells said. “We have never declined anything. They just got old information.”

Mulverhill echoed the sentiment.

“When you go out and look at the nation and the size of the country, I think there are much larger counties they could have pressured,” he said. “I think someone just pushed the wrong button.”

Khaalid Walls is the Northeast regional communications director of ICE’s Office of Public Affairs, based in Detroit. He said he did not know what accounted for the discrepancy between the county sheriffs’ numbers and the report’s findings. Walls told the Enterprise that an email clarifying the inconsistency was forthcoming.

“It’s kind of a slap in the face.” Mulverhill said. “So I’m waiting for folks at the Department of Homeland Security to get back to us. I’ll give them some time to correct the error; then I’ll reach out to federal representatives.”

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