Letter from Mary Anne Whelan
If ICE Comes Knocking
For the past several weeks, ICE has targeted, among other places, Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard. They are no doubt after the many persons—island residents included, all with jobs—on whom the (largely affluent) summer residents depend for routine maintenance. But simply appearing to be of another national origin is sufficient grounds for arrest: ICE has been pulling over cars driven by persons of such appearance and pulling them out, for arrest and probable deportation, without due process. To quote their State Senator Julian Cyr, “The operation appears to have gone far beyond any targeted effort.”
Many persons in Cooperstown seem to feel that “it can’t happen here,’’ but indeed it can. With roughly 80,000 summer visitors, I am particularly concerned about the bed and breakfast proprietors who may have such encounters with ICE agents seeking information about, or access to, their guests or guest lists. Here is what they should know.
ICE agents are not lawfully enabled to enter schools, nonprofit organizations, churches, or private property without a specific warrant. Should that happen:
1) First, ask to see identification. ICE agents may dress in police uniforms without being members of the police. They are not from the police.
2) Even with identification, private property owners (or their employees) should not disclose information about their guests, or themselves, or grant them entry, unless a specific warrant is presented. ICE agents may not lawfully enter private premises, churches, schools, or nonprofit organizations without a specific judicial warrant. Ask to see the warrant.
3) Employees asked for information should respond by saying that they are not allowed to divulge any information about their guests. If a warrant is presented to an employee, they should immediately call the proprietor for advice. Proprietors may wish to call their lawyers, our local police, and the Chamber of Commerce. Make sure the newspapers know.
Good night and good luck.
Mary Anne Whelan
Cooperstown
