By Steve Levy
In what may be a once-unthinkable action, one town on Eastern Long Island is considering ordering its police department to report the whereabouts of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents as they enforce immigration law.
This is venturing into a new stratosphere where it may be the case that the town is acting in a manner that, even if not meeting the criteria of sedition, it is coming perilously close.
Sedition is a crime that centers around the wilful disregard of American constitutional law and order. Some would argue that the attempt of local jurisdictions to thwart the enforcement of federal law is just that.
Remember that 8 US Code, Section 1324 holds that it is a crime for anyone who “conceals, harbors, or shields from detection” an illegal immigrant.
The town of Southold on the North Fork of Long Island is coordinating with radical leftists and illegal immigration lobbyists, including the nonprofit group OLA, to be a counterforce to federal ICE activities. Congress has been investigating various nonprofits that are suspected of impeding the enforcement of our nation’s immigration laws.
Some woke politicians in this area have allowed this illegal immigration lobby group to actually craft laws that the East End towns are now implementing.
Earlier this year, the town of East Hampton adopted a law that requires its own police force to notify the town of any ICE activity that officers become aware of. This notification could be in real time, which could expose the ICE operation to a backlash prompted by the well-coordinated illegal immigration forces and conceivably place ICE officers into an elevated conflict.
At an August 4 policy meeting, Southold Town’s police chief tried to place a moderate spin on the town’s proposal by claiming, “This procedure directs our officers to be present and assist with peacekeeping efforts.” But that should already be the policy of any local department. The unsugarcoated version being pushed by the leftist advocates is much more about giving a heads-up to the NGO enemies of ICE to shield the undocumented.
The proposal crafted by the leftist groups being considered (though not finalized and still going through numerous iterations) not only calls for town police to notify their elected board of ICE operations, but also prompts them to ask for the ID of an ICE officer and would supposedly establish a cause of action for residents to sue ICE agents. It would also prevent town employees from voluntarily allowing agents into nonpublic areas or designated town properties without a judicial warrant. Southold should reject these awful proposals, as Riverhead just did.
All of these endeavors by the radical nonprofits and the woke officials who bend the knee to them are designed to promote illegal immigration into our country and seek to thwart efforts by the federal government to enforce our immigration laws. At least some of these proposals are clearly illegal. Indeed, a decision rendered earlier this month by Judge Mae D’Agostino clarified that localities and states are enjoined from banning federal ICE officers from wearing masks or showing ID.
These wokesters are ridiculously claiming that, by setting up roadblocks to federal authorities enforcing immigration law, they are somehow keeping residents safer.
However, their efforts are making it far more difficult for federal officials to rid the community of those here illegally who have committed violent crimes.
But let’s be clear: even if illegal aliens have not committed further crimes, they are not immune, nor should they be, from deportation.
These East End towns have now taken the position that, once you get here illegally, you should be allowed to stay here forever. That, in essence, is adopting an open-border policy.
If you send a message to the rest of the world that, when you get to the East End of Long Island, you will be able to stay here so long as you do not rape or murder someone thereafter, you are basically welcoming them all in.
The effects of this are staggering:
- Emergency rooms are filled to the brim with people who are here illegally, making legal residents wait hours on end to get cared for.
- Our schools are crowded with more and more students with limited English proficiency who cost taxpayers a fortune to educate.
- A recent federal study shows that 20% of recent rent increases are due in large part to the flooding of the housing market with so many illegal aliens.
- Meanwhile, taxpayers have had to pay billions more in healthcare and housing subsidies for those who are undocumented.
All of this revenue diverted to illegal aliens is money that cannot go to breast cancer screenings, scholarships for legal residents, care for the elderly, or training programs for the unemployed.
It’s one thing for local governments to say that they will not cooperate with federal officials in enforcing the law. We think that’s foolhardy, but it is quite another thing to take the leap in saying that local police will now be directed to work in a manner that may impede the work of the federal government in trying to enforce our immigration laws.
Is this an unconstitutional violation of the Supremacy Clause?
Is it aiding and abetting illegal immigration?
Is it sedition?
We may soon find out in a court of law.
Steve Levy is President of Common Sense Strategies, a political consulting firm. He served as Suffolk County Executive, as a NYS Assemblyman, and host of the “On the Right Side Podcast.” He is the author of “Solutions to America’s Problems” and “Bias in the Media.” www.SteveLevy.info, steve@commonsensestrategies.com.