Letter from Mary Anne Whelan
Whelan: Just Say No to ICE
Otsego County Sheriff Richard Devlin has unilaterally decided to notify ICE of any inmates in the county jail who have an “ICE warrant” pending. An ICE warrant is not the same as a judicial warrant, and is worthless in terms of valid information or any court proceeding. Inviting ICE into our community positions us as one of eight counties of the 62 in New York State who have agreed to such involvement.
Sheriff Devlin has claimed that no local police will be involved, but in his initial announcement of running for re-election as the candidate for sheriff, he acknowledged turning over five jail supervisors to ICE training. They will also be responsible for holding inmates with said warrants for an additional 48 hours, and responsible for their transfer to ICE.
Doing this contravenes New York State law, which states that local law enforcement agencies (LEAs) “are not ordinarily permitted to detail people at the request of federal administrative authorities alone without a judicial warrant…an administrative warrant prepared and issued by federal authorities is not a judicial warrant, which is a warrant based on probable cause and issued by an article III federal judge or a federal magistrate judge…it does not include a civil immigration warrant or other document signed only by federal immigration officials” (ref.: guidance issued in 2024 by the attorney general of New York State).
Devlin did not respond to a letter I sent to him in December 2025, suggesting restriction of ICE involvement in our county jail to those with judicial warrants. He has swallowed, hook line and sinker, Trump’s unfounded claims that illegal immigrants all constitute dangerous criminals and murders.
We do not need protection by ICE: We need protection from ICE.
The Otsego County Board of Representatives and the board itself should be involved in any such decision making, but they were not. Until they are, Devlin’s agreement with ICE should be suspended. And Oberacker and other endorsees might want to rethink their positions.
Mary Anne Whelan
Cooperstown
The one issue ignored by all the actors, political trolls from the political spectrum in this important issue affecting our nation is conveniently being ignored. All historians will readily admit that the matter of legal and illegal immigration is not a new issue, and that our nation was built upon cheap human/migrant labor. I even include the Revolutionary War, and our expansion of sovereignty and influence. The only difference in the previous and current matter was the lack of a “safety net,” for our “illegal” immigrants. Mr. Celler’s Congressional Judiciary Committee provided the 1965 Immigration Act with impact consideration. The only thing relevant from the passage of the 1965 [law] was the clear statement that all immigrants to this nation may not become Public Charges. A Public Charge is someone who is dependent upon the state and national government for health, housing, and even income. These are things that American citizens take for granted, but not the case in most countries. Mention must be made of the “Dreamers.” The “Dreamers” are individuals of questionable legal status, yet have followed the “American Drean,” and have been treated with lies by both political parties. Dreamers continue to contribute to our national wealth. Mr. Trump is an interesting political figure. I would suggest he is a composite of Andrew Jackson and FDR by actual deed. The solution is to stop the use of “migrants” by both parties for political gain. Certainly, remove the criminals and violent “migrants” from residency, but replace violence from both sides with civility. Why not charge the public or private organization that facilitates the “migrant’s settlement” be legally responsible for the cost? The media must admit editing news instead of actual reporting causes violence. Peter Zenger’s case creating Freedom of the Press must be taught in our public and private school system. The only viable suggestion to this issue is the need for immigration reciprocity among all nations. This nation provides more “foreign aid” by public and private entities than any other nation. Let us never [forget] a statue in NY/NJ harbor, a gift from France in the celebration of this nation’s 100th Birthday that has an interesting sonnet “”The New Colossus.”