Voters to consider bylaw limiting town cooperation with ICE

PLYMOUTH — At town meeting April 11, voters will decide whether to approve a bylaw binding town employees to the current policy on cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which would make the policy more permanent. A group of citizens petitioned for a vote on this bylaw in order to limit Plymouth employees’ ability to share information with ICE and safeguard that limit from changing political whims.

The current policy, which was adopted by a unanimous Select Board vote in January, prohibits all town employees from providing information to ICE unless ICE presents a warrant for that information. The policy does not allow employees to obstruct ICE’s activities or violate any laws that mandate cooperation with federal agencies.

The Select Board favorably recommended the article in a 3-2 vote, with member Richard Quintal and Chair David Golden dissenting.

The policy was designed by Police Chief Dana Flynn in 2017, and it has been the police department policy since then. The Select Board decided to apply the department’s policy to the rest of the town to maintain consistency and assuage the fears of residents worried that Plymouth is cooperating with ICE.

As a federal agency, ICE can demand certain information from the town, but the current policy forbids town employees from sharing information that they are not required to share by state and federal law.

Now, a group of citizens are advocating for the policy to be written into the town’s bylaws, which means that the Select Board could not revoke or revise it without approval from voters at town meeting.

If enacted, the bylaw would not change any current policies; it only codifies the policy on ICE cooperation adopted in January into law.

“A bylaw is voted, and it can't be changed because the winds of fate change either the Select Board or the police. We want something to protect our citizens, all of our citizens—all of our, I should say, residents of Plymouth,” one member of the public said.

Flynn said that, according to his contract, he has the power to adopt and revise police department policies without input from the Select Board. Some members of the Select Board worried that the police department could update its policy faster than the bylaw, which could create confusion for police officers on which policy to follow.

One resident said during public comment that the police department should not be able to adopt policies in conflict with the town’s bylaws.

“The bylaw enacted by town meeting is the law in Plymouth, and I don't think that a regulation promulgated by the police chief can override it. It's as simple as that,” he said.

Other residents echoed that opinion, with one saying that she would not want a police department that did not agree with the potential bylaw and another saying that the police chief should not have more power than the Select Board in crafting policies.

One member of the public who opposed the potential bylaw said that it would create confusion and division, and worried that Plymouth would interfere with ICE or run afoul of state or federal laws. (The policy does not instruct employees to interfere with any ICE activity, and the Select Board and police department said that it is in compliance with all applicable laws.)

“I know for a fact that the businesses need the workforce that the immigrants give us. But at the same token, we have to abide by the laws. We have to let ICE do their job,” he said. “Quite frankly, I don't want this to become a spotlight like what has happened in Minnesota with these other places where the National Guard comes in.”

The fatal shootings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti, two U.S. citizens, by ICE officers in Minneapolis came up several times during the meeting. Select Board Member Kevin Canty said that, while Plymouth has not experienced as aggressive conduct by ICE officers than cities like Minneapolis or Los Angeles, the town should be “proactive” in taking a stance on ICE.

“It is important that this community do what it can now and demonstrate where we stand now, that we not be reactive, we be proactive, that we do not hold back out of fear,” Canty said. “I think it's very easy to say that this won't happen here, but by the time it does, it's too late. And I, for one, want to put my values forward and demonstrate where I stand on this issue now, and not wait for someone else to force me to act later.”

Quintal, the Select Board vice chair, said that the bylaw limiting cooperation with ICE could not prevent any violence by ICE officers, and accused Canty of attention-seeking.

“Thank you for the clarification and all that. You seem to like limelight and microphones,” he said. Canty did not respond.

Peter Matlin, chair of the Plymouth for All Committee, which focused on creating an inclusive community and combating discrimination, said that he supported the potential bylaw because it would make immigrants in Plymouth more comfortable with the police department. He said that undocumented immigrants or immigrants with undocumented family members had told the committee that they were afraid to report crimes for fear of someone in their family being deported.

“This is a risk to public safety, not just for public safety of the people in the immigrant communities—all of us,” Matlin said, “because there are perpetrators out there that are not being apprehended because their crimes aren’t even being reported.”

Flynn said in January that the Plymouth Police Department does not assist in deportations or immigration law enforcement and does not request or track immigration status.

Select Board Chair Golden disagreed that the proposed bylaw would “be a silver bullet that will make people trust the police,” he said.

“I have the utmost faith in our men and women in the Plymouth Police Department. If you don't trust them today, you're not going to trust them when this is enacted. And there's nothing that we can do to bring you along,” he said.

Select Board Members Kevin Canty, Deborah Iaquinto and William Keohan voted to favorably recommend the article.

“I think town meeting is the best place to have a further discussion about the merits of this approach and whether town meeting members agree or disagree with, not just the text of the bylaw, but also what the Select Board did,” Canty said.

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