A controversial ordinance that would have barred Lehigh County employees from cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents while on the job failed Wednesday for lack of a majority vote.
Following a meeting that featured a marathon public comment session — including a man dressed in colonial garb who read a modified version of the Declaration of Independence — the Lehigh County Board of Commissioners split their votes 4-4 as one member, Chairman Geoff Brace, was absent.
Lehigh County’s home rule charter requires an affirmative majority vote of the board to pass ordinances and resolutions.
Voting for the policy were commissioners Jon Irons, Zach Cole-Borghi, April Riddick and Sarah Fevig. Antonio Pineda, Ron Beitler, Sheila Alvarado and Dan Hartzell voted against.
The policy was proposed by Lehigh County Executive Josh Siegel, and sponsored by Irons and Cole-Borghi. It would have prevented county employees from giving nonpublic or personally identifiable information about any person to federal immigration agencies or officers unless they were under a subpoena, court order or warrant, or the disclosure was reviewed and approved by the county solicitor.
Failure to follow the rule could result in consequences for employees, including termination.
A vote on the bill was postponed last month, giving the authors time to address critics’ concerns over employee vulnerability. The amended version routed all ICE requests to the county law department.
Had it passed, the rule would have applied to Lehigh County employees in departments overseen by Siegel’s office, but wouldn’t include court employees or row officers.
Irons, who announced his resignation last week due to moving out of state, said he decided to sponsor the bill after hearing from members of the community. He said the measure would remove a legal gray area that currently exists and endangers employees.
“This is something that affects many people in Lehigh County every day. They live with concerns of how their information is used and whether they’ll have to interact with ICE officers. I think there’s a very real increase in the presence and budget of Homeland Security that justifies us preparing for eventual interactions between ICE officers and local government, including some interactions that we cannot imagine,” Irons said.
Pineda, a vocal critic of the bill, said the policy would have endangered county employees by encouraging them to defy legal orders.
“Non-cooperation with federal agents is bad policy,” Pineda said. “We are asking our employees to pick — get arrested or get fired.”
It was a standing room only crowd for the meeting, with numerous people speaking out on both sides of the issue, including persons associated with advocacy groups such as Make the Road Lehigh Valley, and several members of the clergy.
Rev. Samantha Drennan from Grace Lutheran Church in Macungie spoke in support of the bill on behalf of the Lutheran Advocacy Ministry of Pennsylvania.
“Immigrants contribute to the economy in numerous ways, whether through entrepreneurial ventures, skilled labor or as consumers. Cities and municipalities with policies such as this attract more business and investment, which helps create jobs, boosts economic activity and increases tax revenues,” Drennan said.
Jeff Barber, a North Whitehall Township resident, started his comments by asking for a moment of silence for state Trooper Michael Pahira, who died last week after he was hit by a truck driven by a Massachusetts man who is in the U.S. illegally, according to authorities.
Barber said his wife is a retired county employee, and many of his friends work for the county, and they are tired of being pulled into lawmakers’ debates over ICE.
“They just want to do their jobs, they don’t want to be used as pawns in this political battle that everybody puts them through,” Barber said.
Joe Welsh, an East Allen Township resident and executive director of the Lehigh Valley Justice Institute, stepped up to the podium dressed like George Washington. He harkened back to July 8, 1776, when the Declaration of Independence was read aloud in Easton. ICE, Welsh said in his modified version of the document, represented tyranny.
“They have sent armies of civil immigration agents to terrify our communities of color,” he said.