BOURNE – Barnstable County Sheriff James Cummings is urging lawmakers to vote against legislation that would make Massachusetts a sanctuary state.
The Safe Communities Act would limit collaborations between local law enforcement and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The bills pending in the House and Senate would also prevent law enforcement and court officers from asking individuals about their immigration status, and sets limits for when ICE officials can be notified of someone’s pending release from custody.
The legislation would also stop local jails and prisons from conducting 287g programs. The agreements authorize correctional facilities to identify, process and detain immigration offenders encountered during regular law enforcement activity.
In a recent letter to the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security, Cummings says the legislation would make towns and cities unsafe and put dangerous criminals back into our communities.
Cummings says his office has been operating a 287g program the past few years.
“Individuals arrested for a criminal offense in Barnstable County and brought before the court who are held on bail or without bail by a judge have their immigration status further checked by trained Deputy Sheriffs,” the letter said.
“Should the arrestee be found to be deportable that process is begun while the state criminal charges are being adjudicated.”
Cummings said the 287g program for jails prevents illegal criminal aliens from being resleased back into the community to commit more crime.
“Any legislation that prohibits law enforcement agencies from working together in this day and age defies common sense,” he said.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this article.
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