To borrow a phrase from our reality TV star turned president: \u201cYou\u2019re Fired.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the message Bucks County voters gave to outgoing Sheriff Fred Harran Tuesday night when they elected Democrat Danny Ceisler to replace him. What\u2019s more is that voter turnout locally was unprecedented for an off year election, clocking in at 49.6% according to the Bucks County Board of Elections. And voters overwhelmingly gave Ceisler the victory by a 10% margin, or more than 25,000 votes as of Wednesday morning.\u00a0Ceisler\u2019s election was part of what seems like a 50-foot \u201cBlue Wave\u201d that helped Democrats sweep county row offices and win scores of school board and municipal elections up and down the county, as well as elections across the country. <\/p>\n
Sheriff Fred Harran had the deck stacked against him this election. He just didn\u2019t know it.<\/p>\n
First and foremost, Bucks County\u2019s new 33-year-old top law man Danny Ceisler \u2013 an attorney, a former Army Intelligence Officer, and a public safety expert \u2013 was a formidable opponent. I\u2019m not sure the 61-year-old Harran took him seriously enough.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Second, Harran was his own worst enemy. His hubris and insistence on partnering with ICE in many ways defined this election.\u00a0<\/p>\n
@buckscountybeacon<\/a> <\/p>\n Republican #BucksCounty<\/a> Sheriff Fred Harran tells Philadelphia MAGA radio guy Dom Giordano in July that County Commissioners are \u201cgoing to lose their you-know-what after they hear what I\u2019m about to say.\u201d His deputies have completed ICE training (per their 287g agreement) & they are now apparently working with ICE \u201cunofficially\u201d [or secretly]. Apparently he didn\u2019t want to share that with county government. \u201cBut I don\u2019t really care,\u201d says Harran.<\/p>\n \u266c original sound \u2013 Bucks County Beacon<\/a> <\/p>\n His obsession with working with ICE dates back to 2018 when he was Bensalem\u2019s public safety officer. That\u2019s when he tried to bring ICE\u2019s 287(g) program to the municipality during Trump\u2019s first term before it became so \u201cpopular\u201d with today\u2019s MAGA sheriffs<\/a> across the country. In the end he had to abort the Bensalem mission because he claimed<\/a> not enough people were familiar with the program. In reality, the opposite was true, which explains why there was so much widespread<\/a> community outrage<\/a> at the time \u2013 the real reason the ICE plan was put on ice.\u00a0<\/p>\n But never underestimate the power of self-delusion.\u00a0<\/p>\n ELECTION RESULTS: A Blue Wave in Bucks County as Democrats Sweep Row Offices, Dominate Races Across the County<\/a><\/p>\n Fast forward seven years later and Sheriff Harran, after Trump\u2019s 2024 election victory, decided to run it back \u2013 but now on a countywide level. He enlisted almost as soon as he could, and signed up in March to participate in ICE\u2019s most muscular partnership available \u2013 the \u201ctask force model.\u201d This program, described as a \u201cforce multiplier,\u201d empowers trained deputies to act as de facto ICE agents and \u201callows officers to challenge people on the street about their immigration status.\u201d\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n To Harran, this is common sense law enforcement. At least that\u2019s what he tried to sell to local voters. To others in the community though, it sounded like an open invitation to invite masked, armed, and largely unaccountable ICE agents to terrorize local immigrants or any people of color who presented as potential immigrants, no matter whether they were dropping kids off at school, visiting a sick relative in the hospital, or attending a court date.\u00a0And you\u2019d have to be living in a media ecosystem bubble of exclusively Fox News, Newsmax and the One America News Network to not see headline<\/a> after video<\/a> after photo<\/a> of immigration agents tear gassing Halloween parades<\/a>, repeatedly punching a restrained man in the head<\/a>, or committing other human rights violations<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n INTERVIEW: From Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio to Bucks County\u2019s Fred Harran: Why ICE 287(g) Partnerships Are So Dangerous, with Jessica Pishko<\/a><\/p>\n Nevertheless, Harran as an elected official would go on a right-wing podcast to call his critics and critics of ICE \u201clunatics\u201d and \u201cliars.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n Now Ceisler from the jump made it clear that turning over violent criminals here illegally from another country is something the Sheriff\u2019s Office should absolutely do. But, and this was a very big and factual but, this 287(g) \u201ctask force model\u201d was unnecessary to accomplish that, if not counterproductive.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we have someone in our custody who has been convicted of a violent crime and is in the country illegally, we should absolutely notify ICE,\u201d Ceisler told me back in March. \u201cYou don\u2019t need 287(g) to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n Ceisler knocked on doors, went to community events \u2013 even protests, and shared his vision of what law enforcement could and should be in the sheriff\u2019s department.<\/p>\n Ultimately, Bucks County voted for change.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t