PAINESVILLE, Ohio — Some in Lake County are pushing back against a recent policy to join forces with federal agents for immigration enforcement.
Organizers with the Lake-Geauga Fights Back Network are planning a protest for Monday evening outside of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. The demonstration is in response to recent agreements signed with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for a limited partnership.
In mid-September, Sheriff Frank Leonbruno announced his office had signed two agreements to assist ICE with immigration enforcement.
RELATED: Lake County Sheriff's Office to partner with ICE on immigration enforcement
A section added to federal immigration law in 1996, known as 287(g), allows ICE to partner with local law enforcement agencies. The sheriff said his office received the signed agreements last week, and deputies will need to complete special training before they can officially participate in the program.
One agreement, known as the “Task Force Model” (TFM), allows deputies to enforce immigration laws during routine duties, such as traffic stops. If deputies encounter a person with an ICE detainer, they can take the person into custody and bring them to an ICE detention facility.
A second agreement, called the “Warrant Service Officer” (WSO) program, authorizes trained jail staff to serve and execute ICE warrants on current Lake County jail inmates. If a person set for release is found to be in the country illegally, the jail will hold the inmate for up to 48 hours until ICE agents retrieve the person.
Leonbruno said that the agreements will not change how the county jail operates, explaining the facility will not become an ICE detention center or house immigration detainees under a pay-for-stay model.
He also said the sheriff’s office will not initiate independent immigration violation investigations, nor will it participate in ICE raids unless specifically asked to help with high-risk violent offenders or cartel members.
The agreements have drawn criticism from some who believe they could erode trust with Lake County’s diverse population and encourage profiling.
“People are being asked consistently about their immigration status if they appear to be Hispanic, if they’re playing Spanish music. People have been asked to get out of their car, they’ve been asked to consent to searches in ways that wouldn’t have been expected before,” said Connor Marrott, an organizer with the Lake-Geauga Fights Back Network.
The sheriff has defended the agreements, saying they’re not politically motivated and simply codify the agency’s legal authority to uphold the law.
“It’s our job to ensure that our deputies, our corrections officers, follow the constitution and give the civil rights to individuals that everyone is due. And I believe we do that as a sheriff’s office,” Sheriff Leonbruno told News 5 in September.
A protest is planned for 6 p.m. Monday outside of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office in downtown Painesville. Organizers said they’re calling on county leaders to rescind the agreements with ICE.
