McCandless council approves ICE resolution

OF WHAT SOME OF THESE COMMUNITY MEMBERS SAID TONIGHT. FREE SPEECH, PEACEFUL ASSEMBLY AND DUE PROCESS ARE BEING THREATENED EVERY DAY BY THE SOMETIMES UNLAWFUL. THE FREQUENTLY CRUEL AND THE ALMOST ALWAYS UNNECESSARILY BRUTAL TACTICS OF ICE AND CBP. INDEED, EVEN THE BASIC HUMAN RIGHT OF BEING ABLE TO TRAVEL TO WORK OR TO THE GROCERY STORE, OR TO ATTEND SCHOOL FREELY AND WITHOUT FEAR HAS BEEN TAKEN AWAY FROM THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WITHOUT JUSTIFICATION. YOU’RE OPENING THE DOOR TO MAKE US ANOTHER MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA. BELIEVE ME, IT WILL GET OUT THAT WE DON’T HAVE THE COPS BACKING ANY OTHER FEDERAL OR LAW ORGANIZATION IN THE STATE OR THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. THE PEOPLE WILL COME HERE AND YOU’LL HAVE ANOTHER MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, OUR POLICE ARE VERY, VERY TALENTED, AND I BACKED THEM ANYWHERE IN THIS, IN THIS STATE OR IN THIS UNITED STATES. BUT AGAIN, LIKE I SAID, IF YOU PASS THIS RESOLUTION, I THINK YOU GOT NOTHING BUT PROBLEMS. NOW, WHEN COUNCIL WAS DISCUSSING RIGHT BEFORE THEY VOTED, THEY WANTED TO CLARIFY TO THE COMMUNITY THAT THIS DOESN’T REALLY CHANGE HOW THE POLICE DEPARTMENT IS OPERATING RIGHT NOW. THEY SAY THE RESOLUTION PREVENTS OFFICERS FROM DOING THE JOBS OF ICE. NOW THEY SAY THAT IF THERE WAS SOMEONE IN MCCANDLESS WHO WAS HERE ILLEGALLY AND THEN THEY BROKE THE LAW, THERE WAS A VIOLENT SITUATION. POLICE SAY THEIR FOCUS IS ALWAYS PUBLIC SAFETY, SO THEY COULD RESPOND IN A SITUATION LIKE THAT. BUT AGAIN, THIS DOES NOT REALLY CHANGE WHAT THEY WHAT THEIR POLICIES ARE. THEY SAY RIGHT NOW AND AGAIN, MOST PEOPLE DID NOT WANT COUNCIL TO APPROVE THIS BECAUSE THEY WERE WORRIED ABOUT THE ROLE OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT. AND THEY SAY THEY SUPPORT THE POLICE DEPARTMENT AND PEOPLE WHO WANTED COUNCIL TO APPROVE THE RESOLUTION SAY THEY ALSO SUPPORT THE POLICE DEPARTMENT, BUT THEY WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY WERE NOT DOING THE JOBS OF ICE. THEY SAY THAT SOME COMMUNITY MEMBERS HERE ARE IN FEAR OF A SITUATION WHERE ICE COMES IN AND THEY HAVE SOMETHING LIKE WHAT HAPPENED IN OAKMONT WHEN RESIDENT THERE, JOSE FLORES, WAS DETAINED BY ICE. EVEN THOUGH HE HAD A PENDING ASYLUM APPLICATION. NOW, WE TALKED TO A COUNCIL MEMBER VERY QUICKLY RIGHT AFTER THE MEETING ENDED. IT WAS A COUNCIL MEMBER WHO HAD VOTED AGAINST THIS RESOLUTION. HE WAS ONE OF THE TWO WHO SAID NO. HE SAID THAT HE WAS NOT SURPRISED BY THE VOTE. HE SAID IT WENT PRETTY CLOSE TO THE PARTY LINES ON THE COUNCIL. HE SAID MORE LIBERAL COUNCIL MEMBERS VOTED FOR IT, MORE CONSERVATIVE COUNCIL MEMBERS VOTED AGAINST IT AGAIN, A52 VOTE TONIGHT AND A VERY, VERY ENGAGED

The McCandless town council on Monday night approved a resolution that would ensure local police don’t cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.The vote was 5-2 after about two weeks of discussion and potential revisions. Public comment stretched almost three hours with about 40 commentors. More than half of them did not want council to approve it.”You’re opening the door to make us another Minneapolis, Minnesota. Believe me, it will get out that we don’t have the cops backing any other federal or law organization in the state or the federal government. People will come here, and you’ll have another Minneapolis, Minnesota. Our police are very, very talented, and I back them anywhere in this state or the United States. But again, if you pass this resolution, I think you got nothing but problems,” said one resident against the resolution.”Free speech, peaceful assembly and due process are being threatened every day by the sometimes unlawful, the frequently cruel and the almost always unnecessarily brutal tactics of ICE and CBP. Indeed, even the basic human right of being able to travel to work or to the grocery store or to attend school freely and without fear has been taken away from thousands of people without justification,” said one resident in favor of the resolution.Council said that the resolution does not necessarily change how the police are already operating; it just prevents officers from doing the jobs of ICE.The chief of police told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 reporter Felicity Taylor that their first priority is public safety, so if there is a violent situation involving an illegal immigrant, they could respond. Download the WTAE app to stay connected with breaking news. Sign up for our email newsletters to get breaking news in your inbox.

MCCANDLESS, Pa. —

The McCandless town council on Monday night approved a resolution that would ensure local police don’t cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The vote was 5-2 after about two weeks of discussion and potential revisions. Public comment stretched almost three hours with about 40 commentors. More than half of them did not want council to approve it.

“You’re opening the door to make us another Minneapolis, Minnesota. Believe me, it will get out that we don’t have the cops backing any other federal or law organization in the state or the federal government. People will come here, and you’ll have another Minneapolis, Minnesota. Our police are very, very talented, and I back them anywhere in this state or the United States. But again, if you pass this resolution, I think you got nothing but problems,” said one resident against the resolution.

“Free speech, peaceful assembly and due process are being threatened every day by the sometimes unlawful, the frequently cruel and the almost always unnecessarily brutal tactics of ICE and CBP. Indeed, even the basic human right of being able to travel to work or to the grocery store or to attend school freely and without fear has been taken away from thousands of people without justification,” said one resident in favor of the resolution.

Council said that the resolution does not necessarily change how the police are already operating; it just prevents officers from doing the jobs of ICE.

The chief of police told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 reporter Felicity Taylor that their first priority is public safety, so if there is a violent situation involving an illegal immigrant, they could respond.

Download the WTAE app to stay connected with breaking news. Sign up for our email newsletters to get breaking news in your inbox.