Resident says Erie County contract places ICE detainees at county prison, urges termination

Margaret Watts, a Washington Township resident, told Erie County Council during public comment that Erie County has a contract with the U.S. Marshals Service and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that permits the Erie County Prison to be used as an ICE detention facility.

Watts said the contract permits ICE to use a warrant signed by an ICE officer to place individuals in the county facility and described the arrangement as "a distinct form of entanglement between Erie County and ICE." She said that, in her view, the arrangement runs counter to the county’s identity as a welcoming community and urged the council to terminate the contract. "On page 5 of the contract that Erie County has with the US Marshals Service and ICE, it stipulates, quote, the contract can be terminated by either party for any reason," Watts said.

Watts also said detained immigrants can be moved between facilities in rapid succession, which she described as making it difficult for retained attorneys and family members to locate clients. "There is no right to legal counsel in immigration court, but if an attorney has been retained for an immigration detainee, they are having difficulty locating their clients because ICE intentionally moves the detainees from 1 detention facility to another in rapid succession that results in expedited deportations," she said. She called that practice "cruel, lacks transparency, and contributes to the expedited tran deportation where individuals can be disappeared."

Watts cited one study she said links information-sharing with ICE to increases in violence against Latino communities and decreases in crime reporting; she said the contract harms trust that local law enforcement has built. She concluded by urging the council to "avoid this entanglement and terminate a contract that does more to rip apart the social fabric" of the community.

The remarks were delivered during the public-comment portion of the June 17 meeting; the transcript does not show any formal motion, staff response, or a council vote on the contract during the session. The council did not take public action on the ICE contract at the meeting.

Council members did not discuss or vote on the specific contract while Watts spoke; the administration and the sheriff’s office were not present in the chamber for a response, according to the meeting record.