Adam Duvernay

The News Journal

New Castle County law enforcement officers are officially barred from asking about citizenship status or making an arrest because of it.

The "Safe and Inclusive Communities" executive order unveiled Wednesday is designed to ensure county police focus on enforcing local criminal laws instead of federal immigration laws, according to County Executive Matt Meyer.

"Our county police, their job is to keep us all safe. Their job is not to execute and implement the immigration laws of the United States," Meyer said. "Nor is the job of librarians or other people working for county government."

Under the executive order, county officers and employees may not:

Stop, question, search or arrest because of immigration status.

Participate in joint immigration enforcement operations with federal authorities.

Ask about immigration status unless required to do so by state or federal law.

Deny county-funded services to those entitled to such services.

The order doesn't amount to a practical change from current New Castle County Police policy, which already ignores immigration status as a basis for law enforcement action.

But now that unofficial policy is codified.

"There are many individuals from the immigrant community who aren't coming forward to give us information for fear of deportation," said Col. Vaughn Bond Jr. of the New Castle County Police Department. "Our primary concern is providing police services to individuals."

Meyer said there still will be times when cooperation with federal law enforcement requires sharing individuals' citizenship status, but the order spells out when that's appropriate.

STORY: UD students at center of immigration debate

County officials touted the order as the culmination of monthslong communication with advocates and community members who said taking a more proactive stance on the issue would assuage some of the fears in that community.

They did not have data compiled to support their position but relied on anecdotal evidence from advocates and immigrants.

"People are worried, but most of them have confidence this will be handled. But they are aware anybody could be picked up off the street," said the Rev. John Hynes, who heads the St. Elizabeth Ann Seaton congregation in Bear. "An affirmative step like today helps to reduce that tension."

STORY: Delaware immigrants perceive greater threat

Though Meyer said the order shouldn't be interpreted as a stance in a wider political argument, the move comes amid a shift in federal immigration policy designed to more aggressively find and deport undocumented aliens across the country.

That includes encouraging local police departments to participate in the so-called 287(g) program, which allows the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to train local law enforcement to locate and catch undocumented immigrants living in their communities.

Adrian Smith, an official with the ICE field office in Philadelphia, which oversees federal immigration enforcement in Delaware, in late March said no police departments under his office's jurisdiction participate in the 287(g) program.

Now New Castle County law enforcement agencies are forbidden to do so.

Contact Adam Duvernay at (302) 324-2785 or aduvernay@delawareonline.com.