The Camden County commissioners voted Thursday to bar ICE agents from conducting civil immigration enforcement on county property, a ban that includes administrative buildings, parks, county technical schools, the college, and the jail.
The 7-0 vote moves the county into line with a national trend in which more and more local Democratic-led governments are barring the federal agency from their land.
“ICE has torn families apart, hardworking members of our community have been wrongfully detained, and children have been left terrified to go to their school bus stop,” Commissioner Director Louis Cappelli Jr. said in a statement. “Our residents and visitors deserve to feel safe when they are playing with their families in our parks, or visiting one of our agencies, or attending an event on county property.”
The resolution bans ICE agents from entering county-owned or -leased buildings, citing concerns for the health, safety and welfare of residents, and saying people must be able to securely access services they need.
The exception, as in most places, would be if ICE agents arrive with a warrant signed by a judge.
The county and its law enforcement agencies will continue to uphold the law and rights of due process as guaranteed in the state and federal constitutions, the resolution said.
Officials in Montgomery County approved a similar policy in March.
Across the country, more Democratic-led jurisdictions are resisting the ICE surge in enforcement, drawing lines not just on police assistance but also on the ways the agency can use local properties to support its mission.
For local governments, barring U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement hangs out a big “Not Welcome” sign, enabling a local board or council to publicly proclaim its opposition. The measures also can complicate the agency’s logistics, as ICE can need big open spaces like parking lots to set up officers, cars, and equipment for its operations.
These types of measures have been approved by government leaders in places including Los Angeles, Oakland, Cincinnati, New York City, Seattle, San Jose, Calif., Providence, R.I., Denver, Asheville, N.C., and Worcester, Mass.
All embraced land-use policies, as the Vera Institute of Justice pointed out in a study, that limit federal use of local property as staging areas, operational bases, or processing sites for arrests.
“By doing so,” the institute said, “localities can disrupt the infrastructure for large-scale raids, reassert local control over public property, protect residents from enforcement activity, and reinforce trust between immigrant communities and local government.”
Crucially, the institute noted, these “ICE-free zones” make no attempt to bar the agency from doing its work. Instead, they clarify that federal authorities can conduct arrests on city and county property when supported by a judicial warrant.
That signals to courts that local governments are not trying to obstruct federal enforcement, and it reinforces lawful enforcement practices.