Erie Co. Council voting Thursday to keep or terminate federal detainee contract

Thursday night at the local level, county leaders will reevaluate their relationship with ICE and its detainees.

Erie County Council will be voting at Thursday night’s meeting on whether or not to terminate a long-standing contract with the federal government allowing federal detainees to be housed at the Erie County Prison.

According to Councilman Jim Wertz, who proposed the ordinance to terminate the contract, the agreement with the US Marshals Service is decades old, but now deserves a second look based on ice operations in the past year.

Both public readings prior to Thursday night’s vote have attracted large crowds to the meetings, demanding council vote on the new ordinance.

We’ll have more on the outcome of that vote later this evening.

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