Jessica Greenwald, a lifelong Cheektowaga resident, asked the town board to immediately suspend non‑mandated cooperation between the Cheektowaga Police Department and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and to revise police policy 414 to align with local immigrant‑protection proposals.

"I urge you to reexamine the Cheektowaga Police Department's policy 414 on immigration violations," Greenwald said during the public‑comment portion of the Jan. 6 meeting. She cited an investigative report that, she said, showed Cheektowaga police "assisted ICE in arrest more than any other local department," and that "two thirds of the arrests" involving local police assistance were for civil immigration violations. Greenwald warned that continued cooperation carries legal and fiscal risk, pointing to a 2018 New York State appellate decision limiting local detention for immigration offenses and to a large jury award in Suffolk County involving alleged unlawful detentions.

Greenwald framed her appeal in moral and fiscal terms. "Colluding with ICE doesn't make our community safer," she said, adding that the practice "tears apart families and it instills fear in our neighbors." She asked the board to suspend non‑mandated cooperation pending a policy review and to adopt standards similar to the "New York for All" and "Protecting Our Neighbors" proposals she referenced.

Board members did not take formal action on the request during the meeting. One public speaker who followed said he agreed police should cooperate when presented with a criminal warrant but warned against holding people for immigration authorities without a warrant. No police chief or department representative responded during the public comment, and the board did not schedule a specific follow‑up or vote on Greenwald's request at tonight's meeting.

What happens next: Greenwald's statement was entered into the public record during the board's public‑comment period. The board left the public hearing on a separate item (term limits) open for an additional meeting; the transcript does not show the board assigning staff to research CPD policy 414 or setting a date for a departmental response. If the board wishes to act on the request, it would typically direct staff to draft a policy change or hold a separate agenda item for discussion and a possible vote.