Residents urge action after ICE activity; police chief and commissioners describe limits on local authority

Multiple Saratoga Springs residents and local advocacy groups told the City Council they are alarmed by immigration‑enforcement operations in the city and urged local policy changes to protect due process and prevent detentions without judicial warrants.

Speakers at the council’s public comment period, including Otis Maxwell of the Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee, Alice Smith and Jim Thompson (who read the committee’s recommendations), Terry Diggory of the Saratoga Immigration Coalition and other residents, asked the council to adopt formal policies limiting local police cooperation with federal immigration agents, to require advanced notification from ICE for enforcement operations and to expand legal aid and “know your rights” information for immigrants.

“Protect due process without limiting the city's obligation to protect health and safety,” Alice Smith said while urging a department policy that prevents local police from detaining people solely on behalf of federal immigration officers without a judicial warrant. Speakers also asked the council to consider reviewing section 414.4 of the Police Department policy on detentions; Terry Diggory said that provision allows local officers to contact ICE to ask if an arrestee is of interest to the agency.

Commissioner Cole responded during the council’s reply that the Saratoga Springs Police Department is an accredited agency under the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services and that its policies distinguish between criminal and civil warrants. “If it's a criminal warrant, they will release that person to the agency. … If it's a civil warrant, we have no authority to hold that person,” Cole said, urging constituents with concerns about ICE tactics to pursue congressional oversight because federal agencies operate under federal supremacy and may not be required to notify local police. Cole said ICE informed the department it would conduct enforcement activity in the city this morning, the department did not assist the operation, and ICE subsequently left the city.

Several council members expressed concern about agents operating in plain clothes and wearing masks. Commissioner Moran called the practice “dehumanizing” and said it risks terrorizing community members. Commissioner Saink said the council should explore options at the city level but acknowledged the limits of municipal authority when federal law is involved.

No formal policy change or ordinance was passed at the meeting. Residents urged specific actions — adopting a police policy that requires judicial warrants before local detention, providing advance notice and expanding legal‑aid partnerships — and asked commissioners to make clear whether they find plain‑clothes, masked arrests acceptable. The council recorded the public comments and commissioners’ clarifications but took no binding action on immigration enforcement during the session.