Plum could be the next community to bar its police and staff from cooperating with federal immigration authorities Monday.
That’s if Plum Council opts to pass a proposed noncooperation resolution discussed at its March 2 meeting.
Councilman Ray Rall said officials are still waiting for a final draft of the resolution from Solicitor Dayne Dice, but he expects a decisive vote next week.
Plum Police already are prohibited from assisting immigration agents except for instances like traffic and crowd control at scenes, as per a directive from Mayor Harry Schlegel issued in early February.
That led the mayor to criticize the resolution, calling it redundant.
Rall previously said council’s resolution wouldn’t substantially change any existing police procedures, but it would provide a uniform policy for all borough staff, including administration and departments like public works.
The resolution, which Rall said council hopes to release prior to Monday’s meeting, will likely be similar to one recently passed in neighboring Oakmont, he said.
Oakmont’s decision last month came after one of its residents, Jose Flores, was detained by ICE in late January and later released.
That’s in addition to several other local governments that have said they won’t cooperate with immigration agents, including McCandless, Bellevue and Swissvale. Residents in Fox Chapel have asked their local officials to consider a resolution.
Across the river in Springdale, however, officials have inked a 287(g) agreement to work with ICE, resulting in the detainment of Peru-born resident Randy Cordova-Flores last month.
Dozens of residents attended Plum’s discussion meeting March 2 to speak about the proposal.
Most of the more than a dozen speakers approved of the resolution, though several others said they didn’t see the point of the vote if it wouldn’t change policing in Plum.
Rall said he’s not sure what to expect Monday, but he hopes to see the community turn out again.
“As always, I want as much civic engagement as possible,” he said.
Elected last November, Rall is part of a four-man Democratic slate that swept aside the previous all-Republican council.
If the four Democratic councilman vote in favor of the resolution as a bloc, it’s likely to pass.
Monday’s meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m.