SARANAC LAKE — The Saranac Lake village board narrowly passed a bill on Monday which limits the cooperation village police can have with federal immigration enforcement agencies.

The resolution bars local police from enforcing federal civil immigration laws or being used by agencies like U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to enforce these laws through warrantless investigations or arrests.

The resolution, brought by Deputy Mayor Matt Scollin, says none of its restrictions will prohibit village police from honoring a warrant signed by a judge or prohibit them from cooperating with federal authorities in “bona fide” criminal investigations or prosecutions.

Scollin drew a distinction between civil immigration enforcement and criminal immigration enforcement. Being an undocumented immigrant is a civil violation, not a criminal offense.

“Local involvement in immigration enforcement may undermine community trust and public safety,” the resolution states. “Federal immigration enforcement is the responsibility of the United States government and not a duty of state or local law enforcement agencies.”

The village passed a softer version of this resolution in the fall. Scollin said he brought the stronger resolution this week after feeling “helpless” watching violence from ICE agents in the past few months.

Trustee Aurora White first proposed a similar bill in February last year, aimed at ensuring local funds are not spent on controversial federal initiatives and to address concerns local legal immigrants have had over being caught up in the federal government’s current mass deportation efforts.

For months, this bill was debated without getting enough votes to pass. It consistently failed in 2-3 votes, with White and Trustee Kelly Brunette voting for it and Mayor Jimmy Williams, Scollin and Trustee Sean Ryan voting against it.

It was reintroduced several times with language adjusted. Eventually, in September, the board passed a reduced version of the resolution — one with fewer commitments — which was proposed by Scollin.

This altered resolution affirmed existing police policies to give everyone equal access to services and safety, without fear of harassment or detention based solely on their immigration status. But it removed the “shall not” paragraphs of White’s resolution — that local police shall not use resources to do the job of federal immigration agents or assist them, and shall not inquire about the immigration status of people unless they are being investigated for criminal activity.

This resolution didn’t satisfy Williams’ concerns and White felt it removed the “heart” of her initial resolution. But was a satisfactory compromise for Scollin, Ryan and Brunette to pass it 3-2.

White thanked Scollin on Monday for bringing a stronger resolution back to the board.

“I wish we didn’t have to do it, but we do,” Scollin said.

Scollin’s new bill passed 3-2. Scollin, White and Brunette voted for it. Ryan and Williams voted against it.

The resolution can be read at tinyurl.com/4nwb967p starting on page 47.

In the fall, Williams and Ryan voiced concerns the resolution would dictate which laws the police department enforces, be unnecessary and risk federal grants coming to the village.

The previous resolution can be read at tinyurl.com/47e29nen starting on page 17.

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The resolution

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The resolution draws a line between civil immigration enforcement and criminal immigration enforcement.

A civil immigration violation is something like overstaying a visa or being in the country without proper documentation. It would lead to deportation, but not criminal charges.

A criminal immigration violation would involve someone who is not a U.S. citizen breaking laws or posing threats to the public safety.

Criminal investigations come with a warrant signed by a judge. Civil investigations come with administrative warrants, which are not signed by a judge. Still, ICE is using these administrative warrants as authorization to raid homes and make arrests. Opponents of this say it may violate the Fourth Amendment.

The resolution said village police officers shall not engage in civil immigration enforcement on behalf of federal authorities; they shall not investigate, question, detain or arrest anyone to enforce federal civil immigration laws and they shall not use resources — including facilities, equipment, transportation or data — to assist federal immigration agents, unless required by a valid judicial process or federal or state law.

The resolution says the village shall not enter into Section 287(g) agreements. These agreements, using part of the Immigration and Nationality Act, allow local law enforcement to directly partner with ICE. Scollin said the village has no such agreements that he knows of, but he wanted to cover his bases.

The resolution says the village police shall not honor immigration detainers, administrative warrants, requests for notification or requests to detain individuals beyond their release date solely on the basis of civil immigration enforcement, unless there is a valid warrant from a judge or a court order showing probable cause.

The resolution says local police shall comply with state policies prohibiting sharing DMV or other personal information for immigration enforcement purposes, that local officers generally don’t have authority to enforce federal civil immigration law without specific federal delegation and that current state policies say that local police should not be deputized to enforce federal civil immigration law.

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What changed?

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Last summer, Scollin said he felt that local police being asked to enforce federal laws was not an issue here. If it became an issue, then the board should address it, he said

Over the summer, SLPD Chief Darin Perrotte emphasized that local involvement in immigration enforcement has not been an issue currently facing the community. He said village police do not currently question people about their immigration status when they come to the police for help.

Back in September, Scollin had said he was putting his faith in the SLPD to work through situations where ICE would be doing civil immigration enforcement in the village.

“I have just as much faith in the Saranac Lake Police Department as I did last September,” Scollin said on Tuesday. “What’s changed, from my perspective, is I no longer want our police officers anywhere near ICE in any civil immigration enforcement capacity. Because I don’t think ICE agents can be trusted under their current leadership.”

Village resident Margot Gold thanked Scollin for reintroducing the resolution at the Monday meeting.

“I think it takes a lot to change your mind in a public forum,” she said.

On Tuesday, he said the month of January changed his mind.

“We saw Renee Good shot through her side window by masked agents of the United States government,” Scollin said.

He said it was clear Good was not driving toward those agents, and she was shot dead.

“Two weeks later, on Jan. 20, Liam Conejo Ramos was the 5-year-old child that was used as bait by ICE agents,” Scollin said. “As a parent … that one resonated with me. … He was trying to make sense of a situation in which the adults around him were not there to help him or his family.”

Within that week, Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse with the Department of Veterans Affairs, was killed by ICE agents.

“He was shot like a dog in the street after being disarmed of his legal, permitted and appropriately concealed handgun,” Scollin said. “We were immediately told by DHS that he was a domestic terrorist and basically an active shooter, and then we saw the videos of what actually happened.”

Scollin said he felt helpless over these weeks.

“We were watching (U.S. Border Patrol “commander-at-large”) Greg Bovino cosplay an actual Nazi and throw tear gas canisters for the cameras,” he said.

Scollin said he realized he had more ability to do something than the average person, given his position as the fifth vote on an often-polarized board.

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Public support

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Several locals voiced support for this resolution before the vote on Monday.

“Do not let the village get caught up in someone else’s mission,” Saranac Laker Emily Martz said. “I don’t want the energies of our dedicated public safety personnel, as well as my personal tax dollars, diverted to a federal agenda, especially one that has been mired in and driven by some unconstitutional activity.”

She said ICE agents have killed innocent people.

Rosalie Fontana, of Bloomingdale, said ICE agents are terrorizing civilians and mentioned the killings of Pretti and Good by ICE agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She said ICE is in the Tri-Lakes and said agents allegedly detained someone in Lake Placid on Sunday.

Fontana accused ICE of acting like secret police and said, with her belief that the agency drifting into fascism, why should the village connect its officers with them.

Saranac Laker Jason Brill said ICE is not going after the “worst of the worst” as President Donald Trump had said they would. Brill reminded everyone that being an undocumented immigrant is a civil violation, not a criminal offense.

“Let’s not help the federal government persecute people, hardworking, taxpaying people that are being slandered as violent felons for a paperwork problem,” Brill said.

The Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE, has been in a now-11-day partial government shutdown after its funding lapsed on Feb. 14.

Democrats are opposing approving funding for DHS unless a list of 10 immigration enforcement reforms are met.

These include a ban on agents wearing masks, mandatory body cameras, requiring ICE to get judicial warrants to enter private property instead of administrative warrants, stricter use-of-force policies and new training standards.

ICE itself is not impacted much by the shutdown. The DHS agency previously got $150 billion in additional funding in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.