Lehigh County Executive Josh Siegel expects to introduce a controversial bill next month that seeks to prohibit county employees from helping U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.\n<\/p>\n
The resolution was on the agenda for Wednesday\u2019s Lehigh County Board of Commissioners meeting, but was pulled at Siegel\u2019s request because, he said, he wanted to work on more pressing issues facing the county this month, including a mail in ballot error that is affecting some voters in next week\u2019s primary election.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI wanted to focus my time and attention on things that need to be done before the primary. There\u2019s no issue with the resolution, I just don\u2019t have the bandwidth this week to give it the attention it deserves and we look forward to reintroducing it next month,\u201d Siegel said.<\/p>\n Under the proposed rule, county employees will not be permitted to give out non-public or personally identifiable information about any person to federal immigration agencies or officers unless they\u2019re under a subpoena, court order or warrant, or the disclosure was reviewed and approved by the county solicitor.<\/p>\n Employees will be subject to mandatory training on the new rule, and could face serious consequences if they don\u2019t comply, including termination, according to the resolution.<\/p>\n The purpose of the resolution, it states, is to create consistent procedures for responding to immigration enforcement officials, clarify employee roles and ensure compliance, as well as \u201cmaintain trust between county government and the diverse communities it serves,\u201d and \u201cprotect the privacy, dignity, and due process rights of all individuals who interact with county government.\u201d<\/p>\n The proposed policy will apply to Lehigh County employees in departments overseen by Siegel\u2019s office, but won\u2019t include court employees or row officers.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not the first time Siegel has targeted ICE in the county. In January, the newly sworn in county executive announced that he was going to \u201cdeport\u201d the agency from a county building over unpaid rent.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n