Tensions High in Law Enforcement as ICE Tests Patience of City Officials Nationwide 

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Federal, state, and local law enforcement officers are normally on the same page when investigating crimes, sharing information and tracking down suspects.   

But under the Trump administration, tensions between some local and federal officials have increased over arguments about immigration sweeps. Those fissures first cropped up earlier this year when an Immigration and Customs Enforcement  agent shot and killed a woman in Minnesota. State officials said federal authorities excluded them from the investigation.  

And after a shooting in Portland that wounded two people, local police said they had received no information from federal authorities about the incident. So local authorities nationwide are creating rules to curb ICE activity.  

Pittsburgh City Council voted recently to formally ban police and city staff from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement.  Councilors put forward a multi-bill package at the end of March in response to ongoing concerns about Immigration and Customs operations across the region.  

Barb Warwick, one of the bill sponsors, said she hoped the passage of the legislation would reassure Pittsburgh’s immigrant population that it is safe to use city services.  

“The reality is that the folks who are living this nightmare right now don’t necessarily know. They don’t know an ICE officer versus a police officer. There’s a general fear of even accessing services,’’ Warwick said.    

“I really hope that word gets out about this, so that our folks, our immigrant neighbors, really know that when it comes to the city of Pittsburgh, you are safe here,’’ Warwick said.  “You are safe calling 911. You are safe engaging in city services and city programs. We are not collaborating with ICE,’’ Warwick added.   

In Philadelphia, the district attorney, Larry Krasner, warned ICE agents to get out of the city if they intended to commit crimes.  Gov. Gavin Newsom of California decried “masked men snatching people in broad daylight’’ and military operations in cities as “an assault on our values.’’ 

“It’s all very unsafe for police because of the violent confusion on the streets,’’ said Mart Hurst of Cleveland, Ohio, a retired security officer for a large retail chain. “Law enforcement is hard enough without all this poor communication,’’ said Hurst, who was seriously injured while trying to stop a retail theft gang last summer.  

Police leaders nationwide have expressed fears that ICE tactics cast a shadow on the professionalism of their officers and would undo their efforts on gaining the public trust.  

Law enforcement analysts report that cooperation between federal authorities, state and local is essential to holding drug gangs, and other criminals and white-collar offenders accountable.  

But Robert Strauss, a professor of economics and public policy said new disputes over questions like whether states can bar immigration agents from wearing masks or allow residents to sue them for rights violations. “I don’t know that we have ever seen this kind of conflict before,’’ Strauss added. “There are lots of legal questions now,’’ he said.  

And while police unions are usually staunch advocates of officers’ rights to defend themselves, Charley Wilkison, a former executive director of the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas, the state’s largest police union, criticized what he called “newly recruited, masked immigration agents.’’   

In a Facebook post, he wrote “That they would no doubt damage and destroy the reputations of our proud and professional officers.’’ 

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