NORTHAMPTON — After Gov. Charlie Baker issued revisions Thursday that allow state police to detain people wanted by federal immigration authorities, Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz said the changes will not supersede his 2014 executive order on the subject.
The new state guidelines, which took effect immediately, reverse policy enacted by former Gov. Deval Patrick.
The revisions are in line with the federal Priority Enforcement Program, state police said. The fingerprint-sharing program, aimed at violent and dangerous criminals, was implemented by President Obama’s administration after its predecessor, the federal Secure Communities program, was criticized by advocacy groups for sweeping up many law-abiding immigrants and fostering an atmosphere of mistrust between immigrant communities and law enforcement.
Under Patrick, Massachusetts declined to participate in Secure Communities, and state troopers were barred from contacting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for any reason without supervisory approval.
In 2011, the Northampton City Council unanimously approved a resolution that condemned Secure Communities and discouraged local authorities from participating in the program.
In the same spirit of the 2011 resolution, Narkewicz signed an executive order three years later prohibiting Northampton police from turning immigrants over to ICE.
Secure Communities was discontinued by the Department of Homeland Security in 2014.
Under Baker’s new guidelines, state police may detain people who are in the country illegally for up to 48 hours if those individuals fall into certain categories, including being suspected of posing a threat to national security.
Narkewicz said the governor’s revisions are technically only applicable to state police because it’s an executive agency.
“We want immigration communities to trust the police,” Narkewicz said Thursday. “We do not want to create an atmosphere where, somehow, police are viewed as acting as immigration officials. We don’t really have the authority to enforce immigration laws, nor do we have the resources.”
However, that’s not to say that city law enforcement wouldn’t cooperate with federal officials if there was evidence that someone committed a serious crime.
“But the whole idea that we will detain someone based on an administrative request, that’s something that’s not mandatory for municipalities,” Narkewicz said.
Echoing the mayor’s sentiments, Jesse Adams, a former city councilor and Northampton attorney who’s a staunch advocate for rights for immigrants in the community, said Baker’s revisions were a far cry from city values.
“It shows that immigrants are treated unfairly and unfavorably,” Adams said Thursday. “If you’re an immigrant, there’s now an additional effort of (state) law enforcement agencies taking steps that they wouldn’t take for non-immigrants, it seems, in an attempt to treat them differently. And that fosters mistrust, I fear.”
State officials stressed that under the guidelines troopers still would not be allowed to stop or arrest people on the sole basis of immigration status. State police personnel will, however, be allowed to contact ICE directly without supervisory approval.
“This policy revision gives the professionals of our statewide policing agency the tools necessary to detain criminals, gang members or suspected terrorists wanted by federal authorities,” Baker said in a statement announcing the policy shift.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
Contact Michael Majchrowicz at mmajchrowicz@gazettenet.com or 413-585-5234.