{"id":2775,"date":"2025-10-15T23:39:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T23:39:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/2775\/"},"modified":"2025-10-15T23:39:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T23:39:09","slug":"pennsylvania-judge-upholds-a-sheriffs-ice-cooperation-agreement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/2775\/","title":{"rendered":"Pennsylvania judge upholds a sheriff\u2019s ICE cooperation agreement"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Pennsylvania<\/a> judge upheld Bucks County Sheriff Fred Harran\u2019s authority to cooperate with federal immigration authorities on Wednesday, dismissing an American Civil Liberties Union<\/a> lawsuit that sought to block his participation in a federal enforcement program.<\/p>\n

Judge Jeffrey Trauger of the Court of Common Pleas of Bucks County ruled that the ACLU\u2019s plaintiffs lacked standing and failed to show any concrete harm from the sheriff\u2019s 287(g) agreement<\/a> with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement<\/a>. The court found the claims were based on \u201csubjective fears of possible future incidents,\u201d noting that one plaintiff \u201calleges no actual incidents where he or others he knows were a victim of any of these unlawful events.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ACLU, which filed a lawsuit in June, argued that Harran exceeded his authority by signing the agreement without county commissioners\u2019 consent. The court rejected that argument, citing similar findings from a New York appellate decision that found memorandums of understanding like the one at issue to be \u201cunenforceable contracts.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a 13-page decision<\/a>, Trauger concluded that \u201cnone of the Plaintiffs have proper legal standing to bring this action under Pennsylvania law,\u201d adding that even if they could, the memorandum of understanding signed by Harran \u201cis not an enforceable contract and therefore [was] not subject to the approval of the Bucks County Commissioners.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ruling affirms that sheriffs in Pennsylvania are independent constitutional officers who may coordinate directly with federal agencies. Harran\u2019s agreement with ICE allows his deputies to perform certain immigration enforcement functions under federal supervision, part of a long-standing framework known as the 287(g) program.<\/p>\n

Harran has said he intends to use the agreement to check the immigration status of people already in custody or those wanted by his office. In a statement<\/a> posted online, he called the ruling a victory for residents and validation of what he described as a \u201ccommon-sense\u201d approach to public safety that leverages partnerships and federal resources.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis decision affirms our ability to use this simple tool to ensure individuals who commit crimes in our county are held fully accountable \u2014 regardless of their immigration status,\u201d Harran said.<\/p>\n

The ACLU strongly condemned the decision and vowed to appeal, saying in a statement to the\u00a0Washington Examiner\u00a0that it \u201cundermines our values, our laws, and our humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis fight is far from over,\u201d said Stephen Loney, senior supervising attorney at the ACLU of Pennsylvania. \u201cIt\u2019s unfortunate that the judge in this case failed to appreciate what the law clearly states. The sheriff does not have the authority to sign onto a 287(g) agreement with ICE. We will appeal this decision, and in the meantime, we will continue to work to hold Sheriff Harran accountable for the rule of law.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The decision for now is a win for America First Legal, a conservative legal group founded by President Donald Trump\u2019s senior adviser Stephen Miller, which represented Harran in partnership with the law firm Zimolong. AFL said the outcome reinforces that local law enforcement agencies can assist ICE in removing dangerous criminals and ensuring public safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a decisive victory for the rule of law and for every law enforcement officer who refuses to bow to political pressure,\u201d said Gene Hamilton, president of AFL. \u201cRadical activists tried to weaponize the courts to stop a sheriff from enforcing the law. The court saw through it.\u201d<\/p>\n

HOMELAND SECURITY DEMOCRATS EYE MEASURES TO CONDITION DHS FUNDING TO ICE REFORMS<\/a><\/p>\n

AFL claimed the case has \u201csweeping implications,\u201d saying the ACLU and its affiliates \u201cattempted to strip an elected sheriff of his authority to assist federal immigration officials.\u201d <\/p>\n

The group said the court\u2019s ruling \u201creaffirms that local law enforcement can lawfully work with ICE to remove criminals and keep communities safe.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Pennsylvania judge upheld Bucks County Sheriff Fred Harran\u2019s authority to cooperate with federal immigration authorities on Wednesday,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2776,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[31,2443,741,28,30,29,2286],"class_list":["post-2775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-crime","tag-ice","tag-immigration","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news","tag-washington-d-c"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2775","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=2775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2775\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}