Bristol County Sheriff: We’ll Help ICE But Can’t Enforce Immigration Law

DARTMOUTH (WBSM) — Bristol County Sheriff Paul Heroux is reminding the public that while his office will cooperate with the federal immigration authorities, it is not their job to enforce federal immigration law.

“I have heard from many concerned citizens that they insist that I enforce federal immigration law. I even read one person say ‘get your badge, put on your cowboy hat Sheriff, and get out there and arrest the illegals. Do you job, Sheriff!’” Heroux said in a release.

Heroux said “there are several reasons” why his office “cannot get directly involved with federal immigration issue(s):”

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His Office Doesn’t Have the Authority to Enforce Federal Immigration Law

According to the Massachusetts Sheriffs Association, “In relation to ICE detainers, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court determined in Lunn v Commonwealth, 477 Mass. 517 (2017) that it is unlawful for state and local law enforcement agencies to arrest or detain people solely on the basis of an ICE detainer, beyond the time that the individual would otherwise be entitled to be released from State custody.”

“As such, the sheriffs are bound to follow the law of the Commonwealth, and therefore cannot hold an individual based on an ICE detention request alone, if that incarcerated individual is not subject to separate judicially issued detention orders,” according to the MSA.

The BCSO Doesn’t Have the Available Staff

“We are already stretched too thin being short staffed overseeing 650 inmates. We routinely force Corrections Officers to do overtime to fill necessary posts on housing units,” Heroux said. “Bringing more people into this jail system (ICE detainees) would add to the stress that this system already experiences.”

The BCSO Is Already Being Sued Over Its Previous Handling of ICE Detainees

“A third reason is that the BCSO is currently being sued for millions from an incident that happened in May 2020 under the previous sheriff, resulting in the loss of the BCSO’s contracts with ICE,” Heroux said.

“Concerning the lawsuit, the federal government/ICE is telling us that it is a state issue, and meanwhile the state’s attorney general is telling the BCSO that the BCSO was acting as an agent of the federal government so the lawsuit is a federal issue. This leaves the taxpayers exposed to costly legal fees. Therefore, I rhetorically ask – why would I want to enter into a 287g contract when it didn’t go well for us the last time?” he said.

READ MORE: Dartmouth ICE Detention Riot Video Released

Heroux Said His Office Will Cooperate With ICE

“I, and by extension the entire BCSO, will cooperate and give ICE any and all information that we are legally allowed to share,” he said. “The BCSO recognizes that ICE has an important and difficult job to do and we are not going to make their job any more difficult by getting in their way or withholding information we possess from ICE.”