Letter from Teresa Winchester

Winchester: ‘I’m Perplexed’

Thank you, AllOtsego, for your January 22 article detailing the terms of the 287(g) Warrant Service Officer agreement, which Otsego County Sheriff Richard Devlin signed with ICE in September. After two close readings, I am perplexed as to why Sheriff Devlin took it upon himself to sign this agreement. ICE’s presence in communities over the past few months has made it abundantly clear that this violence-prone, woefully under-trained agency makes everyone less safe in our homes, places of work and worship, and daily life.

First of all, Otsego County has never had an “immigrant problem” and, to my knowledge, has not experienced any spikes in crime due to immigrants—documented or otherwise—living here.

Neither could more money for the sheriff’s department have been a reason. No sign-on bonus was offered. No extra personnel were added. Sheriff Devlin stated that thus far five jail supervisors have been trained to enforce the agreement. Training, supervised by ICE, has been carried out by existing sheriff’s officers during their regular workdays, thus taking away from time and attention that could be paid to in-house or Otsego County matters.

The agreement further states that the sheriff’s office is “responsible for personnel expenses, including, but not limited to, salaries and benefits, local transportation, and official issue material.” According to AllOtsego, costs could also include extra boarding time, staff hours devoted to training and transportation.

Furthermore, the sheriff’s office “will be responsible and bear the costs of participating LEA (law enforcement agency) personnel with regard to their property or personal expenses incurred by reason of death, injury, or incidents giving rise to liability.”

AllOtsego also states that, to date, no outside funding for the program has been announced. Why would the sheriff’s office agree to assume the costs and risks delineated above?

In effect, Otsego County taxpayers are footing the bill to aid and abet the actions of a paramilitary force whose existence has created chaos and committed crimes of violence—including public shootings—within our borders. Immigrants are not the problem here. ICE is!

Funding for ICE, under President Donald Trump, has grown exponentially—from less than $6 billion in 2016 to $85 billion currently. Why should Otsego County personnel be working for ICE at no charge? Our county prides itself on keeping taxes low. Does the sheriff’s agreement with ICE support this goal?

Sheriff Devlin also agreed to “provide appropriate databases, personnel and documents necessary for compliance.” Exactly what are these databases and how do we know they do not overextend their boundaries to include residents of Otsego County in general?

Sheriff Devlin’s contract with ICE circumvents standard legal procedures, denying immigrants held in our county jail the right to plead their cases in a routine court of law. Once remanded to ICE, detainees have no recourse to due process. They are even denied the right to petition for release on bond—denied the fundamental legal safeguard of habeas corpus.

A person without papers, jailed in Otsego County, will, under the ICE contract, be remanded to an ICE detainment center. These facilities have no regulatory oversight. They are infamous for excessive over-crowding, inadequate food, exposure to disease, and both physical and psychological torture. They are modern day concentration camps, created under Trump 2.0. Otsego County should not be complicit in these transfers.

Please make your objections to the sheriff’s agreement with ICE, as well as to the existence of this rogue force itself, be known to Sheriff Devlin and to the members of the Otsego County Board, which funds the sheriff’s department.

Teresa Winchester
Butternuts