The Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners, in a 3-3 vote, failed to pass a resolution at its meeting March 9 that would have clarified and established a policy on how Whitehall Township would use its resources in civil immigration matters and public safety.<\/p>\n
Commissioner Taylor Stakes drafted this resolution that would have restricted the township from using township resources, except in federal or state law pursuant to a judicial warrant, subpoena or court order, to cooperate and assist in the matter of civil immigration enforcement events.<\/p>\n
Stakes, board President Jeffrey Warren and Vice President Thomas Slonaker voted yes on the resolution, while board Secretary Randy Atiyeh and Commissioners Ken Snyder and Lee Christman voted no. Commissioner Elizabeth Fox was absent from the meeting.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe purpose of this policy is to protect our officers, our township and our taxpayers,\u201d Stakes said. \u201cThe resolution I\u2019ve helped bring forward is about a clarity of rules, legal protection and responsible governance.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said nothing in his resolution was aimed or intended to undermine their work.<\/p>\n
Stakes reported Whitehall Township Police Chief Michael Marks said Whitehall police currently do not have a working relationship with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. This resolution would have ensured township resources were not used for voluntary federal enforcement unless required to do so under federal law.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe resolution does not regulate immigration policy. Immigration enforcement remains the responsibility of the federal government,\u201d Stakes said. \u201cWhat this resolution does is very simple. It states that Whitehall resources should not be used for voluntary federal enforcement unless required.\u201d<\/p>\n
This resolution had many limitations and ideas proposed, which, according to the agenda, would have prevented township resources from being used to assist in civil immigration matters, including arresting or detaining individuals solely on the basis of an immigration warrant or detainer.<\/p>\n
Snyder made his point by reading an email from Marks, addressed to Christman, stating the resolution was \u201cunnecessary and, quite frankly, unenforceable\u201d and said the mayor \u201cserves as the head of public safety in our township.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stakes said this resolution would have directed the mayor and chief of police in creating a policy.<\/p>\n
Snyder and Christman said they would not support the resolution based on their experience in serving the community, and especially hearing the opinion and thoughts from the chief, who has served the township for more than 30 years as a patrolman and 10 years as chief.<\/p>\n
\u201cI put a lot of respect in what he does and how he operates in our township. Our chief of police, who has been in our community for all these years,\u201d Snyder responded.<\/p>\n
When Stakes asked Snyder and Christman why they agreed the resolution was unenforceable and why they chose not to support it, Snyder noted it was due to a matter of personal beliefs and opinions. Christman said his opinion was based on the chief of police\u2019s response and opinion, saying he believed it also was \u201cunenforceable and not necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe police chief has never litigated this in court. I\u2019ve talked to people who have litigated this in court, people who litigated it in Lehigh County,\u201d Stakes noted.<\/p>\n
Atiyeh agreed with Snyder and Christman\u2019s points and reported he would also not be supporting the resolution.<\/p>\n
Warren supported the resolution, stating it would have helped support the police, especially noting the state police have created a policy \u201cfor how they will handle matters where the detainer is out of their control.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t see it as against the police. We support our police department. We\u2019ve never rejected a funding request for them,\u201d Warren said.<\/p>\n
Resident Stephanie Falcone spoke to the board about this resolution, stating \u201cit reinforces the role of trust and communication between residents, local government and law enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe resolution demonstrates trust and clear tangible support for our frontline law enforcement,\u201d Falcone said. \u201cBy providing clear guidance to them, they are shielded from having to make complicated decisions about civil immigration in high-pressure situwations.<\/p>\n
\u201cI urge you to consider the voices that you represent, who cannot be here today, and that passing this resolution goes a long way toward cementing trust in our elected officials and in one another as neighbors and friends,\u201d Falcone added.<\/p>\n
After an extensive debate regarding the issue, the resolution tied and failed to pass.<\/p>\n
None<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners, in a 3-3 vote, failed to pass a resolution at its meeting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":142857,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120],"class_list":["post-142856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142856\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}