Police Chief Dennis King spoke to members of the Marblehead Task Force Against Discrimination Sept. 25, giving an update regarding the recent ICE action that took place in town where three landscapers were taken into custody by immigration officers.
“I don’t talk to ICE about anything that relates to their activities,” said King. “They didn’t tell us they were coming. They don’t have to.”
King did note, however, that the lack of communication between the town and immigration officials, while not unheard of, was somewhat unusual.
“Any time an outside agency comes in, whether it’s the State Police or a federal agency, we are better off by getting information unless it compromises their operations,” said King. “That’s not perfect and sometimes it happens where an agency may not do that, but our preference is that they give us an idea when they’re operating,” unless that jeopardizes their operations.
In discussing Marblehead Police’s role in this type of law enforcement, King clarified that: “Local police do not enforce immigration law. Local police do not detain based on immigration status, race, ethnicity. That’s not our deal. They’re a separate entity in the law enforcement field… they take their positions from the federal government and the executive branch.”
Regarding continued ICE activity, King said, “Enforcement efforts started in January and, to our knowledge, we’ve only had one incident in Marblehead. I think that may be an indicator of the type of activity we are going to see, but I don’t know for certain.”
