Westmoreland looks to shed label of being a sanctuary for undocumented immigrants

Westmoreland officials say they are looking to shed a label that the county is a sanctuary for undocumented immigrants.

The Center for Immigration Studies declared Westmoreland a sanctuary county in 2014. The Washington, D.C., think tank promotes reduced immigration into the United States.

Westmoreland was one of 14 Pennsylvania counties to receive the designation, with the group contending that the county “obstructs immigration enforcement and shields criminals.” Allegheny County also is identified as a sanctuary county.

Westmoreland officials said they have been criticized about the designation on social media and at public meetings in recent months.

“It’s a real pain in the butt to do this job when we have to play games like this with people who own websites. There’s my opinion. You put people at risk when you call us a sanctuary county,” said Westmoreland County Controller Jeffrey Balzer, also a county prison board member.

Balzer didn’t elaborate on how he thought people were placed at risk by the designation.

Westmoreland County Commissioner Doug Chew, who chairs the county prison board, said that board is considering a proposal to formalize what has been standard operating procedure in Westmore­land over the past decade. Local corrections officials already notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement when an undocumented immigrant is being held at the county jail, he said.

“We have been doing that. This is just codifying it into a policy,” Chew said of the proposal.

The Center for Immigration Studies said on its website that sanctuary counties don’t allow its agencies to comply with ICE detainers or they impose unreasonable conditions for accepting detainers. The counties also don’t allow federal authorities to interview incarcerated undocumented immigrants and they impede the exchange of information between local government personnel and federal immigration officers, the center said.

Butler County had previously been identified by the center as a sanctuary for undocumented immigrants. The center removed Butler from its list last year after the county adopted policy changes that are similar to those being proposed in Westmoreland County.

Westmoreland solicitor Melissa Guiddy said that under the county’s proposed policy change, the county would accept ICE detainers and hold inmates at the jail unless the detainers are erroneously issued. Now, the county holds inmates only under specific conditions and with approved judicial warrants.

The county has long contended that it required proper legal documentation before it released undocumented immigrants to federal custody or detained them in the jail.

Jessica M. Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, said Westmoreland’s proposed policy shift appears to pass muster with the think tank.

“If the prison board adopts this (proposed) policy that addresses the problem, we will take them off the list,” Vaughan said.

Westmoreland County Commissioner Ted Kopas, also a prison board member, called the sanctuary county designation a myth.

“We are simply validating the policy we’ve had for more than a decade,” Kopas said. “It is unfortunate we need to restate what we have always done, which essentially says we will not illegally hold people, but if it helps clarify the misperception it will be worth it.

Commissioner Sean Kertes said he also supports adopting the new policy.