Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Bethlehem officials condemn federal immigration raid, say limited local authority to intervene
Summary
City leaders recounted limited information after a June federal immigration enforcement action that detained 17 people at a South Bethlehem worksite, urged patience while seeking answers from DHS and ICE, and faced calls from residents for stronger local protections and clearer response protocols.
Mayor Reynolds and other city officials told Bethlehem City Council on June 17 that federal authorities conducted an enforcement action in South Bethlehem the previous week that resulted in 17 people being detained and that the city has received little concrete information from federal agencies about who was detained or why.
The mayor said he learned of the operation around 8 a.m. the day it occurred and that city police were not involved in detaining anyone. “We did not participate in any of the detaining,” he said, adding that the city received only a “courtesy phone call or a courtesy text” that federal authorities were present. He said follow-up requests for details from the Department of Homeland Security and ICE produced no answers. “We have gotten no information and no answers,” he said.
Council members pressed the administration and police on what happened, how the city could verify federal identities in the field and whether local policies or prior memorandums of…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
