Millersville council hears solicitor's guidance on immigration-enforcement agreements, takes no immediate action

Council members discussed the borough solicitor’s review of draft policies and agreements related to police immigration enforcement and were told there was no legal necessity for council to adopt a separate ordinance to prevent such agreements.

Borough Manager Rebecca summarized the solicitor’s view, saying the solicitor’s position was that “we do not need to take any action here to prevent an agreement from happening since we are the party that makes the agreement.” Council members noted the police chief was not present at the meeting; several said internal policy direction about officer procedures is typically developed by the mayor and the chief and need not be approved by council to be an internal department policy.

Council explored procedural options — a draft ordinance, a resolution or a statement of intent — but members agreed such measures would be largely political and not legally necessary based on the solicitor’s guidance. Members also said Pennsylvania state law provides protections that limit the borough’s ability to enter into certain federal immigration-enforcement agreements; no specific edits to the draft policy were recommended by the solicitor at this stage.

Because the chief was absent, council did not take further action and left open the option to place the item on a future agenda if members or the chief request formal council review.