{"id":1609,"date":"2024-06-04T09:10:21","date_gmt":"2024-06-04T13:10:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.acluvt.org\/news\/press_release\/aclu-sues-essex-county-sheriff-records-immigration-involvement\/"},"modified":"2024-06-04T09:10:21","modified_gmt":"2024-06-04T13:10:21","slug":"aclu-sues-essex-county-sheriff-records-immigration-involvement","status":"publish","type":"press_release","link":"https:\/\/www.acluvt.org\/press-releases\/aclu-sues-essex-county-sheriff-records-immigration-involvement\/","title":{"rendered":"ACLU Sues Essex County Sheriff for Records on Immigration Involvement"},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":""},"class_list":["post-1609","press_release","type-press_release","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"subheading":"Violation of state public records law another example of county sheriffs evading accountability.\n","date_and_time":"2024-06-04 09:00:00","featured_image":null,"components":[{"acf_fc_layout":"text","text":{"text":"FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE \n\nJune 4, 2024 \n\nContact: Emily Hagan-Howe, Communications Director, ACLU of Vermont, <a href=\"mailto:ehaganhowe@acluvt.org\">ehaganhowe@actluvt.org<\/a>, 802-223-6304 x121 \n\n(Montpelier, VT) \u2013 The ACLU filed a lawsuit yesterday to obtain public records wrongfully withheld by the Essex County Sheriff\u2019s Department (ECSD). At issue is the ECSD\u2019s compliance with Vermont\u2019s Fair and Impartial Policing Policy (FIPP)\u2014which limits local police involvement in immigration enforcement. The Department failed to provide copies of the records as required by state law, instead insisting that the ACLU travel to the sheriff\u2019s office to first \u201cinspect\u201d the records in person, thus compelling the ACLU to file suit. \n\n<strong>Lia Ernst, Legal Director, ACLU of Vermont: <\/strong>\u201cVermont\u2019s Public Records Act ensures access to public information, a foundation of transparent and accountable government. Sheriff Colby\u2019s refusal to comply with that law is deeply troubling, particularly since the records concern his office\u2019s compliance with the state\u2019s Fair and Impartial Policing Policy (FIPP). Local law enforcement should not be in the business of enforcing federal immigration law, and Vermont sheriffs need to be held accountable.\u201d  \n\nIn January 2024, the ACLU requested records of documents related to ECSD\u2019s practices on sharing information with federal immigration authorities, after a <a href=\"https:\/\/vtcommunitynews.org\/2023\/12\/14\/up-for-a-vote-limits-on-police-immigration-intel-surface-law-enforcement-concerns\/\">December 2023 article by the Community News Service<\/a> suggested that ECSD either did not understand or was willfully not complying with FIPP.  \n\nIn part, the Community News Service reported on the concerns of Essex County Sheriff Trevor Colby\u2014who operates in the least populous county in Vermont\u2014that an expanded FIPP would stymie officers\u2019 ability to do their jobs. Per the article: \u201c[Colby] emphasized that his priority is to keep residents within his jurisdiction safe, and people in his relatively remote part of the state get shaken up when they see unfamiliar folks. Up there, he said, everyone basically knows everyone.\u202fColby said he would likely call immigration authorities after a traffic stop if he thought the people in the car were undocumented.\u201d \n\nSuch a call would likely violate the FIPP and, if based on race or other protected categories, could also violate the constitution. \n\nFollowing the ACLU\u2019s public records request in January, Sheriff Colby advised in April that the records were available for in-person review but did not agree to send them electronically or by mail\u2014the ACLU\u2019s right as per the Vermont Public Records Act. Instead, Sheriff Colby reiterated that the ECSD\u2019s \u201cconsistent practice\u201d is to require requestors to appear in person to first inspect the records. The ECSD ignored or denied the ACLU\u2019s multiple requests that it comply with the Public Records Act by honoring the requestor\u2019s choice of whether to inspect or receive copies of public records. \n\nOn May 23, the ACLU attempted one final time to avoid litigation, notifying Sheriff Colby that unless the ACLU received the records by mail no later than May 31, it would commence this lawsuit. As of the filing of this lawsuit, the ECSD has not produced copies of the records. \n\nConcerns about Vermont law enforcement entanglement in federal deportation operations are longstanding. In November 2018 the ACLU represented farmworker advocacy group Migrant Justice in <a href=\"\/cases\/migrant-justice-v-wolf\"><em>Migrant Justice v. Wolf<\/em><\/a>, a lawsuit alleging that the enforcement division of the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) assisted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in surveilling, harassing, arresting, and detaining Migrant Justice members and leaders after they worked to pass Vermont\u2019s Driver Privilege Card (DPC) law in 2013, allowing state residents to obtain driving privileges regardless of immigration status.  \n\nDocuments obtained through public record requests show that when plaintiffs submitted their DPC applications, the DMV sent their personal information directly to ICE, which then compiled dossiers on Migrant Justice leaders. The records show that DMV workers shared the plaintiffs\u2019 information with ICE for discriminatory purposes, out of racial and anti-immigrant animus. Migrant Justice settled the lawsuit with DMV in January 2020 and with the federal defendants in October of that year. \n\nFind the ACLU\u2019s complaint against the Essex County Sheriff\u2019s Department <a href=\"https:\/\/www.acluvt.org\/app\/uploads\/drupal\/sites\/default\/files\/2024-06-03_complaint_aclu_v._ecsd.pdf\">here<\/a>. \n\n### "}}],"use_default_media_contact":true,"name":"","email":"","phone":"","address":{"address_1":"","address_2":"","city":"","state":"","zip_code":"","country":"United States"},"pgp_public_key":"","spokesperson":null,"related_content":[],"issues":[1369,1370,1367],"toggle-pdf":true,"documents":null},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>ACLU Sues Essex County Sheriff for Records on Immigration Involvement - ACLU of Vermont<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.acluvt.org\/press-releases\/aclu-sues-essex-county-sheriff-records-immigration-involvement\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"ACLU Sues Essex County Sheriff for Records on Immigration Involvement - 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