Township police in Southwestern Berks would hold illegal immigrants for immigration agents

by Steve Reinbrecht

Police in Lower Heidelberg and South Heidelberg would notify federal immigration authorities if they contact someone in the country illegally.

Across the United States, some communities – so-called “sanctuary” cities, for example – vow to protect immigrants who are here illegally by not cooperating with federal immigration agents. For example, they prohibit their police from notifying immigration officials if they have someone on an ICE detainer.

Those who support such protection say it makes communities safer. Illegal immigrants would refrain from reporting crime or otherwise cooperating with police if they had to worry about being identified and detained. Supporters cite research that shows immigrants of any status are less likely to commit crime than non-immigrants.

Critics, including President Trump and many mostly Republican leaders, say the detainees are criminals who tend to commit crimes and take jobs from citizens.

Lower Heidelberg Police Chief W. Thomas Deiterich said the township does not have a policy regarding officers asking about residency status or immigration status.

If someone has a federal immigration detainer, the department will contact immigration officials and have them come, he told me in an e-mail.

An immigration detainer is an official request from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to another law enforcement agency, such as a state or local jail, that the local agency notify ICE before releasing an individual so that ICE can arrange to take over custody.

Refugees or immigrants have not caused crime or trouble in the township, Deiterich wrote.

South of Penn Avenue, in South Heidelberg, the police department’s policy is to notify ICE “in the event we would contact someone who is in the country illegally” and “let them decide what they would want to do with the person.”

There have been no documented crimes in South Heidelberg attributed to any person who is in this country in an undocumented status since July, when he became chief, Chief Barry Whitmoyer wrote.

He doesn’t believe people are discouraged from reporting crimes because of potential cooperation between police and immigration agents, he wrote.

Sinking Spring Chief Lee Schweyer and Western Berks Chief William Schlichter did not respond to my questions for this post.