ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk on Friday joined calls for Lehigh County officials to stop federal immigration authorities from working in local courthouses.
More than a dozen residents at a county commissioners meeting Wednesday night urged the board to investigate the procedures that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents follow when operating in county courthouses.
They also questioned whether federal agents are required to identify themselves.
Many of the people at the meeting alleged ICE agents tried to "trap" and arrest a man the day before outside the historic Lehigh County Courthouse, though the group produced no evidence that agents violated the law.
But a spokesman for the Philadelphia Field Office of the Homeland Security Investigations and Enforcement and Removal Operations said such allegations are “blatantly false” and are endangering ICE officers across the country.
'A cornerstone of our democracy'
Tuerk on Thursday wrote to Lehigh County President Judge J. Brian Johnson, calling on Lehigh County’s top judicial official to “prevent ICE from operating with impunity in our courthouse.”
The mayor said current policies seemingly allow ICE agents “to circumvent the judicial process and spread a culture of fear.”
“Access to justice is a cornerstone of our democracy. When people are too afraid to enter the courthouse, they are effectively denied that right.”Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk
He said he is concerned some “are afraid to attend court because of reports that ICE is free to detain people after hearings.”
“This, coupled with ICE’s demonstrated willingness to detain people who are lawfully present in the United States, has the unfortunate effect of preventing Allentown residents from seeking protection or redress through the court,” Tuerk wrote to Johnson.
“Access to justice is a cornerstone of our democracy,” Tuerk wrote. “When people are too afraid to enter the courthouse, they are effectively denied that right.”
Tuerk called on Johnson to “issue a public and unambiguous policy” banning ICE agents from county courthouses, a move the mayor said would “be a major step in restoring trust in government and faith in its fairness.”
“Fear and suffering stem from a lack of clarity,” Tuerk said. “Uncertainty about the policies of the Lehigh County Courthouse breeds fear in the minds of the residents of Allentown and prevents them from engaging with the judiciary.”
He distanced himself Friday from the term "trapping" some used at Tuesday night's commissioners meeting. But he wrote in his letter to Johnson that reports of ICE agents being "free to detain people" at the courthouse were "substantiated by several incidents in recent weeks."
The mayor said he was working on the letter before Tuesday's incident at the historic courthouse.
'Blatantly false'
Lehigh County Commissioner Jon Irons on Wednesday accused ICE and Homeland Security agents of “acting outside not only the law but norms of immigration policy.”
“This type of dangerous rhetoric is what is fueling a 700% increase in assaults on ICE officers across the country."Jason Koontz, public affairs officer for the Philadelphia Field Office of the Homeland Security Investigations and Enforcement and Removal Operations
Jason Koontz, public affairs officer for the Philadelphia Field Office of the Homeland Security Investigations and Enforcement and Removal Operations, called Irons’ statement “blatantly false.”
“This type of dangerous rhetoric is what is fueling a 700 percent increase in assaults on ICE officers across the country,” Koontz said.
He said agents are “enforcing immigration law in accordance with federal laws” and departmental policies.
He warned that groups “who interfere or impede lawful ICE enforcement operations will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Irons and members of the Rapid Response Network demanded agents identify themselves during the alleged attempted arrest Tuesday outside the historic Lehigh County Courthouse.
Instead of "spending their time further demonizing heroic ICE officers," Democrats should "dial back the rhetoric and tell their supporters to stop attacking law enforcement."President Donald Trump to Newsweek
The network urges people to report suspicious activity related to immigration enforcement, such as potential sightings of ICE agents.
U.S. Sens. Cory Booker, D-New Jersey, and Alex Padilla, D-California, are proposing a bill that would require federal immigration agents to wear clearly visible identification during public enforcement actions.
President Donald Trump, who has pledged to conduct the largest mass deportation in U.S. history, condemned Democrats over the bill.
Instead of "spending their time further demonizing heroic ICE officers," Trump told Newsweek, they should "dial back the rhetoric and tell their supporters to stop attacking law enforcement."
