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Judiciary committee says S.44 preserves governor's sole authority for ICE agreements; House orders third reading
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Summary
S.44 would remove an emergency exception that allowed local law enforcement to enter into certain ICE agreements and retain the governor, after consultation with the attorney general, as Vermont's sole authority to enter such agreements; the House Judiciary Committee recommended concurrence and third reading was ordered.
Representative Arsenal, speaking for the House Judiciary Committee, presented S.44 on May 7 and reported the committeevoted unanimously to recommend concurrence with the Senate version of the bill.
"As the title suggests, this bill concerns the statute 20 V.S.A. § 4652, which details how the state may enter into certain types of agreements with Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE," Representative Arsenal said on the floor. He told members the bill is the same version that passed the Senate and that the committee offered no amendments.
The committee's presentation explained that S.44 eliminates an exception that currently allows a state, county, or municipal law enforcement agency to enter into ICE delegation or cross‑designation agreements in the event of a state or national emergency that threatens public safety. Under the bill, only the governor—after consulting with the attorney general—would retain authority to enter such agreements.
Representative Arsenal identified two federal statutes referenced in the committee presentation: 8 U.S.C. § 1357(g), which permits ICE to enter into agreements delegating certain immigration enforcement functions to state and local officers under ICE supervision, and a customs cross‑designation authority cited as 19 U.S.C. (federal customs enforcement cross‑designation). Committee witnesses included the executive director of the Vermont Criminal Justice Council, the attorney generals director of policy and legislative affairs, general counsel for the governor's office, the advocacy director of the ACLU of Vermont, and legislative counsel; testimony was recorded as favorable. The committee's recorded vote on S.44 was 11‑0 in support.
On the floor the House ordered third reading by voice vote and the clerk recorded that third reading was ordered. No numeric roll call was recorded in the floor transcript.
