On Thursday, November 13, the ACLU of Delaware sent an open letter to Governor Meyer, urging him to reissue firm guidance outlining how all Delaware agencies interact with ICE.
The letter was sent following an incident on Thursday, November, during which Seaford Police Department (SPD) and Delaware State Police (DSP) responded to a request by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for assistance in detaining Carlos Chaj-Gonzalez at the Lowe’s in Seaford.
It is still unclear whether ICE possessed a valid judicial warrant for Chaj-Gonzalez. ICE is yet to provide evidence that they had the legal right to detain him.
"In July, Delaware took a critical step to protecting immigrant communities and the integrity of local law enforcement by banning 287(g) agreements between ICE and state and local law enforcement agencies. Most recently, the Wilmington City Council passed a unanimous resolution opposing collaboration between the city and ICE," writes Helen Salita, ACLU-DE Campaign Manager, "However, the incident in Seaford illustrates that despite these meaningful steps, the rules around when and how our state and local law enforcement cooperate with ICE remain murky."
ACLU-DE requested a response from the Governor's office detailing next steps in creating this guidance by Thursday, November 20.
The letter was also sent to Attorney General Kathy Jennings, Speaker Melissa Minor-Brown, Senate President Dave Sokola, and Representative Mara Gorman.
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